Past ReVisited
by Hedwig1
Summary: Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager’s scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it’s not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B’Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!
1. Athena

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 1:

The Athena 

_            "We did it."_

_            The armada of Starfleet ships on the viewscreen was a heavenly image. Earth was less than one light-year away. It was like a dream._

            Janeway jerked awake. Looking out the window, she saw familiar stars. After seven years in the Delta Quadrant, the homecoming seemed like a dream. Even 13 months later, Janeway would wake up thinking her dream was just that and not a memory.

            Kathryn Janeway checked the chronometer. 0700. Still an hour before duty, but she knew that she couldn't go back to sleep. Sitting up in bed, she looked around her quarters. She never understood why Captains needed as much space as she had. Her new quarters on the U.S.S. Athena were twice the size of Voyager's. Climbing out of bed and heading towards the bathroom, she noticed a picture on her desk. It was the banquet a week after Voyager's return. The whole crew, their friends and families were all there. This particular picture was of the senior staff. Tuvok, Harry Kim, Tom and B'Elanna Paris, Seven, the Doctor, Chakotay and herself. That was the last time they were all together. She hadn't even talked to most of them in the last year. 

            After getting ready for duty, Captain Janeway stepped into the corridor. The halls were larger and brighter on the 24-deck ship than on Voyager. After their homecoming, Starfleet took one look at the ship, and she's been in dry-dock ever since. 

* * * * *

            _"Are you sure?" Janeway asked Admiral Ross._

_            "Let me ask you a question, Captain," he began, "How much of the ship is its original material from her launch? How many Starfleet refits and overhauls has the ship had? How much technology is in there that our scientists and engineers have never seen?"_

_            Janeway didn't respond immediately. It was true. B'Elanna's engineering staff basically rebuilt the entire ship in their seven-year journey, none of which had Starfleet's support._

_            Ross read the understanding expression on her face and continued with the debriefing. "Nineteen months, minimum."_

_            Janeway's look shot up, "How can the refit take a year and a half?"_

_            "Between the technology that needs to be ripped out, and replacing systems with seven years of advancements, it's going to take a while."_

_            "But nineteen months?!"_

_            "We're still trying to rebuild the fleet from the Dominion War."_

_            "All the more reason to have Voyager checked out and back in space again."_

_            Ross sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "Captain, I understand your loyalty and…dedication to your ship. But we've already scheduled the refit to begin as soon as your crew has cleared their belongings. Plus," he added with a grin, "We've already commissioned a fine ship for you to command as soon as you're ready to get back into space."_

_            Janeway froze. _Another ship?_ She thought. She'd never even considered it. _

_            "The U.S.S. Athena. It's been in dry-dock for six months and we've started accepting Starfleet applications. They'll be ready for you to review in two months, when it's scheduled to launch," he paused before he finished, "if of course you accept the command."_

 

            "…if of course you accept the command." The words ran through Janeway's mind as she walked the corridors of the Athena. It had taken her several weeks to come up with an answer, but obviously she had given Ross the affirmative. 

            "Captain on the bridge," her first officer pronounced. Janeway nodded as she took her place and sighed. The man at her side was not Chakotay and the guy at the helm certainly wasn't Tom. In fact, of the entire Bridge crew, the one familiar face was that of her best friend, Tuvok. Despite a chance to go back to Vulcan, he decided to stand by his commanding officer until Voyager was re-commissioned. 

            _The Athena's a good ship, Janeway thought as she took her seat next to the first officer.__ I just want to get back to my home. But how much of the family will be there._

* * * * *


	2. Lieutenant Kim

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 2:

Lieutenant Kim 

            "Riker to Kim."

            "Kim here."

            "Lieutenant I think I've seen enough of this burned out town. I'm taking the first team and heading out."

            "Yes sir."

            "You and your team finish up your sweep and then report back to the Enterprise. I'll debrief you at 1400 hours."

            "Aye aye sir. Kim out." 

            Lieutenant Harry Kim clicked off his communicator and informed his team of the orders. The Enterprise had been responding to a distress call that originated from one of the moons of Tallus 4. They'd only been a couple of hours away but when they arrived, the moon had disappeared. Commander Riker had taken two teams down to survey the rest of the moons and the planet itself. But suspiciously, the rest of the system was deserted. Kim continued scanning the small cabin he'd been examining. It was strange, but it seemed as if the entire town had been deserted in a hurry. He'd even found a computer console that was in the middle of running some sort of program. The whole atmosphere was eerie and Harry couldn't wait to get out of there and get back to the ship.

            Harry Kim had been assigned to the Enterprise almost as soon as Voyager had returned home over a year before. His excellent record and recommendation was more than enough to earn him a position on the Starfleet flagship as well as a promotion from Ensign to Lieutenant. Kim loved being aboard the Enterprise. He was assigned to Lieutenant Commander Data's staff at the ops position and some of his crewmates from Voyager were assigned to the Enterprise as well. His new adventures and space exploration kept him busy. For the most part, things were going very well for the young officer. But as was the case for most of the Voyager family, the seven years spent aboard that marvelous ship lingered still in his mind. The thought occurred to him several times that had this been an away mission from Voyager, Tom would be right next to him, cracking jokes and half-heartedly complaining about married life. Commander Chakotay would be rolling his eyes at them, trying hard not to laugh himself. And Captain Janeway would be watching over them from above on the bridge. Life in Starfleet now couldn't compare. Since the war, away missions had become just that…missions. It was truly a military. There was no talent night. No excess holodeck programs. No close-knit family of people to cling to. He knew that part of these thoughts was childish. Of course Starfleet was military. It _was military. The only reason for the unique social situations aboard Voyager was because they were stuck in the Delta Quadrant for seven years._

            His thoughts were interrupted by laughter. He turned and saw Ensigns Seaborn and Hayes laughing together in the distance. Harry ignored the "breach in protocol" (no public display of affection) and sighed as he looked back at his work .That was another thing he had liked about Voyager. The absence of contact with his home made it easy to imagine that everything on Earth had remained the same. That people he knew and loved were there waiting for him. Voyager brought new meaning to the phrase, "Ignorance is bliss."

_            Harry Kim gazed in wonder, still in mild shock that they had actually made it home. He watched with joy as one by one, every one of his friends was reunited with some member of their family. Tom and B'Elanna were met of course by Admiral Paris and his family. Harry was doubly happy for them because not only were they going to be able to spend their new life together on Earth, they would be able to raise their new daughter, Miral along with them as well. Chakotay was met by some very close friends. Harry guessed them to be ex-Maquis members. Captain Janeway nearly abandoned her cool and calm demeanor when her sisters and mother walked into the banquet hall. And although he was Vulcan, even Tuvok himself looked a little more emotional than usual. _

_            Everything seemed to be perfect…except one thing. Where was his family? True they had only just arrived to the party in the highest banquet hall in San Francisco. But still, of the whole senior staff, everyone knew Harry to be the most anxious to reach Earth. Where were his—_

_            "Harry!" Harry spun around and saw two people running toward him. He started forward with equal speed and embraced a woman he hadn't seen in seven years._

_            "Hi Mom, Dad!"_

_            "Oh Harry, we're so happy you're finally home safe," the small woman exclaimed as she threw her arms around her son and held him tightly. Harry hugged her back just as tight and then did the same to his father. When they finally pulled away, Harry escorted them to their table and they began to talk. _

_            "So much has happened since you were away son," his father said proudly, "The business has really grown."_

_            "You'll have to show me what you've done to the place."_

_            "You can count on it."_

_            The three spent the entire first half of the banquet talking and sharing adventures. His parents were surprised and proud to hear his stories. But Harry was getting anxious. The fact that the subject hadn't been brought up yet bothered him. And it took him a while to finally ask. _

_            "Mom…why didn't Libby come? Wasn't she on the invitation?"_

_            His parents looked at each other, almost as if they had been waiting for the question all night._

_            "Harry," she answered with a sigh, "Libby thought that it would be best if she didn't come."_

_            His stomach started churning as he began to wonder what he sort of already knew. "Why?"_

_            "Son," his father finished, "Libby got married two years ago."_

_            Harry looked down and nodded, almost expecting it. _

_            "Harry?"_

_            "Ok, Dad. I sort of knew she couldn't have waited this long--"_

_            "Harry," his father wasn't finished, "She was married to Danny."_

_            At that Harry's look shot up. "Danny?!" he exclaimed, almost shouting. _His best friend from the Academy? Danny Byrd?

            _"I'm sorry Harry." _

_            But Harry almost wasn't listening anymore. There wasn't much time to say anything else because the traditional "Welcome Home, Congratulations" speeches were about to start. For the rest of the night, Harry sat in his chair with his Mom and Dad, surrounded by friends that were practically a second family…feeling completely alone._

* * * * *


	3. My name is Annika

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 3:

My Name is Annika 

            Annika Hansen ran as fast as she could from the station Astrometrics lab to the complex's transporter. The words kept ringing in her head, over and over again.

            "Cadet Icheb has been seriously injured. We request your assistance because of his unique physiology."

            She couldn't believe it. How could he have been so inefficient. So flawed. So-

            Annika stopped herself. She was thinking like a Borg again. She knew perfectly well that whatever accident had happened couldn't have been Icheb's fault. She didn't know a single cadet more qualified for Starfleet. She was just…worried. Scared that her student, her friend was in serious danger.

            "Activate the cortical stimulator," Doctor Solga ordered just as she walked into the station's sickbay. 

            "What happened?" she asked one of the ensigns who was assisting in the procedure. 

            "He was hit by a cloaked Cardassian ship on a training mission. It was a combat training mission, so they thought he was preparing some sort of secret attack."

            Annika huffed as she rolled her eyes. _How could they have made such a careless mistake?_

            "Annika Hansen?" the doctor called from across the room.

            "Yes sir."

            "Thank you for coming so quickly. The EMH that gave us this special cortical stimulator is inaccessible at the moment. We were hoping you could guide us through the specifics."

            "What is his status?" she asked approaching the boy. She almost froze at the sight of him. Burns and cuts had nearly mutilated his youthful face. His right arm was twisted in a way that shouldn't have been physiologically possible. And his whole body was convulsing in involuntary spasms.

            "We can't seem to stabilize his neural pathways. There's still too much technology in his brain that prevents us from operating as we normally do in this situation."

            "Adjust the cortical stimulator to a temperature of 100 degrees Kelvin."

            "100 degrees Kelvin!?" he exclaimed, "The information in the database states that normal body temperature for Brunalis is only 78 degrees Kelvin. The overload could kill him!"

            "Trust me doctor. You must overload the circuits in his neural net and flush out the mechanical damage or the hazardous machinery will kill him first. Then immediately bring the temperature down to 70 degrees to compensate for the dangerous temperature."

            The staff looked at each other in astonishment. But Icheb's condition was worsening. They had to try anything. The procedure took surprisingly little time. Annika had obviously known what she was talking about because almost as soon as the temperature was raised, the circuits burned out and his body barely realized the increase. His Brunali physiology was designed to shut down the synapses from his brain to the rest of his system in the event that such an increase would occur. When the temperature returned to normal, the synapses were revived and Icheb was stable.

            "Well done Ms. Hansen," Solga exclaimed, still in mild shock. 

            "Thank you doctor, but the danger has still not passed. I merely enabled you to cease the convulsions so that you may begin to repair the biological damage. I trust though, that Icheb will recover?" Her confident tone disappeared in that last question as she looked hopefully at her young friend.

            "I can never make guarantees Ms. Hansen. But I believe that the rest of the surgery should go smoothly. You're welcome to watch if you would like."

            Annika looked at the unconscious cadet and shook her head. The sight was just too much for her and she respectfully requested that she wait like other "family members" did, in the waiting room.  

            She sat for a long time, silently praying for his safety. Her eyes closed as she began breathing deeply, fading into a deep meditation. An irony occurred to her as she did so. The person from whom she has learned this peaceful worship, was the one person she had not seen nor talked to in over a year.

            _"Seven!" he shouted after her, but Seven didn't stop. Eventually Chakotay caught up to her. But he had to strain to walk at her pace._

_            "Seven please. We need to talk about this."_

_            "There is nothing to discuss, Commander."_

_            At that he stopped her, grabbing her arm. "It's _Chakotay_," he said abruptly, "and there _is_ something to talk about."_

_            "Such as?" she asked. She didn't quite understand what was happening to her. But her blood pressure was way up, she was breathing heavily and was fighting this enormous urge she had to shed tears. _

_            Chakotay sighed, "Seven this doesn't mean it has to be over."_

_            "I don't see how," she stated plainly, "You've made your intentions very clear. I'm sure you'll have a satisfying experience on Mars with your friends."_

_            "Will you just listen for a minute?" he shouted, "I want you to come with me. I don't want to be away from you. We can go together."_

_            "And leave the only family I have here? My aunt, who hasn't even seen me since I was a child? You want me to go live on a Mars colony and leave everything behind that we just gained?"_

_            "You don't even know your aunt, Seven. You yourself have expressed your discomfort when you're around her. Starfleet will make a lab experiment out of you. You'll never have any peace."_

_            Seven didn't answer, but instead looked away, trying to take in everything she was hearing._

_            "These are my people Seven. My friends. My tribe. They want me to come study with them and learn all the things I've missed the past seven years."_

_            "What about the rest of your family? You said you wanted to be close to me when we returned to the Alpha Quadrant."_

_            "I still do," he answered a little quieter, "That's why I want you to come with me, Seven."_

_            Seven thought for a long while. Was it fair? Was it right to have worked with the crew so hard to get home,  meet her only relative left and then leave right away? She was supposed to be exploring her humanity. Experiencing the love of a real family. On the one hand, wasn't romantic interest and indulgence part of that experience? On the other, her new home was here. Her aunt was here, more than eager to get to know her. She had already agreed to let Icheb stay with them when he wasn't at the Academy. Naomi Wildman and her family also lived close by. These were the people who had really helped her through their Delta Quadrant journey. Could she leave them all to go gallivanting with a man she had really just begun to know?_

_            Shakily she looked into Chakotay's eyes and answered, "My name…is Annika, Chakotay. And _this_ is my home."_

* * * * * 


	4. Graveyard

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 4:

Graveyard 

"Tom."

            "Go away."

            "It's your turn."

            "I fed her last night. I believe it's your turn."

            "And I was with her all day yesterday."

            "I'm sleeping."

            "Get up or I'll break your arm," B'Elanna's common threat was what got Tom out of bed.

            As Tom walked into Miral's room, he asked the crying child, "Has there ever been a night that you don't like getting up at 0300?"

            At thirteen months old, Miral Kathryn found that she liked to sleep during the day, and keeping her parents up at night. 

            Tom paced around their quarters while trying to calm his young child.. She started to settle down after Tom gave her a bottle.

            The stars of the Beta Quadrant streaked by at warp. _It's_ _amazing what life will throw you_._ Tom thought.__ For seven years we tried to get back to the Alpha Quadrant, then at the first chance we get we go towards another._

            _"Are you sure you guys want to do this?" Harry Kim asked his best friend. "It's going to be a two year mission."_

_            "It's not like we're going to be out of contact," Tom defended his and B'Elanna's decision._

_            "If you were going to go back to space, why didn't you just stay in Starfleet? You would have both been bumped up to Lieutenant Commanders."_

            _"It's not about the rank, Harry. With this job B'Elanna and I will be able to keep our jobs that we love and Miral will be able to be with us. Your shot." _

_            Tom and Harry made a promise in the Voyager's early days that when they got home, they would shoot pool at the real Sandrine's. Though they lost interest in the holoprogram, they kept their promise. Three months after the ship got home, after the homecoming parties and the Starfleet ceremonies, the two best friends spent one last afternoon together._

_            "So when does this new job start?"_

_            "One week."_

_            "A week! Don't you think that's a little soon."_

_            "This job isn't going to come up again," Tom answered._

_            "It's a Federation science vessel. There are plenty of them."_

_            "This one seemed like the one," Tom said as he sunk the 8-ball into the corner pocket, thus ending the game. "Nine crewmen and eight civilians, a couple of them children. It'll be good for us."_

            The ten months since that conversation seemed to go by in a blur. He glanced down, almost unaware that Miral had stopped crying and was peacefully resting in his arms. Tom walked over to the bedside table and looked at the picture next to his bed. It was Harry, holding his little goddaughter, the day of the banquet. _It's not like we're going to be out of contact. His own words echoed in his mind. __Yeah right. He hadn't seen Harry since. He'd heard that he was fine, working on the Enterprise, under Jean-Luc Picard. No doubt happy in the position that he had always wanted in the first place. Still, there were days he'd give anything to jump into his Captain Proton suit and run over to the holodeck…on Voyager._

            He laid the sleeping child in her crib and looked over at B'Elanna, who had long since fallen back asleep. Yes he missed Harry, and there were days he missed Voyager. But he had his B'Elanna. Nothing was more important than that. 

            He was about to lay down next to her when his thoughts were interrupted by a very loud crewman.

"Mr. Paris?"

            "What the hell?" B'Elanna asked, instantly awake.

            Paris motioned for her to be quiet.

            "Go ahead Lyman."

            "You'd better get up here sir. There's something you need to see." The comm. system switched off just as Miral started to cry again. Tom looked at B'Elanna.

            "I know, I know. Go to the bridge flyboy. I'll take care of Miral."

            Tom kissed her on the forehead and headed for the bridge, quickly changing before he left. 

            "All right Josh," he said to Josh Lyman, sitting at ops, "What could possibly be important enough to-" But Tom didn't even have to finish his sentence. He stared at a viewscreen littered with debris. Millions of fragments of ships floated around them in disarray. It looked like the battle of Wolf 359.

            "Scan for life signs. Distress signals."

            "Already done sir," Lyman said from his seat, "It's a graveyard."

            "My God."

            "Sir?"

            Tom spun around to answer a girl named Abbey Wetzel who was working at another ops station.

            "What is it Abbey?"

            "I've been scanning the entire debris field. There appears to be twelve separate ships in all…and they're all Starfleet. 

            Tom just stared in silence at the viewscreen. These had been colleagues, perhaps even friends. It brought back the harsh reality of space travel.

            "Can you get any data on which ships they were," Tom said, coming back to the present. 

            "Not yet," Abbey responded. "But there were several ships that have been reported missing from Starfleet in this area."

            "Send a transmission to the nearest Starfleet vessel to tell them what happened," Tom started but then asked another question, "Any idea who did this?"

            "I'm picking up a weapon's signature, but it's not like one I've ever seen before," Josh answered, "You may want to take a look at this."

            Tom walked over to the console that Josh was standing at. He stared at the readings for a couple of minutes without saying anything. _These reading look so familiar…_ he thought. _Where are they from…_ "Oh, God…get B'Elanna up here."

* * * * *


	5. Distress

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 5:

Distress 

Harry fiddled around with the data Padd for the thousandth time that day. He couldn't make anything of it. Naomi Wildman had really stumped him this time. 

            After the away mission, Commander Riker had debriefed him and relieved him for the day. Before heading to Ten Forward for a drink, he stopped by his quarters to pick up a few things that had been sent to him over Starfleet channels. One of which was this data padd from Naomi Wildman. She had taken to writing to the crew over the past year. Sending them fun little activities she'd been creating, in an attempt to remain close to the family she was born to. Harry couldn't help but smile when he read her letters and played her games. Sitting in Ten Forward, reading mail from Naomi was something he looked forward to every week.

            Just then, a familiar looking young woman walked into Ten Forward, looking rather nervous and timid. She approached the bar and was greeted by the bartender. Harry was sitting close enough to listen parts of their conversation.

            "Well hello honey. I don't believe I've ever seen you in here before."

            The girl smiled and took a stool, "That's because I was just transferred here a few days ago. I was told by a friend that if I ever got here, I had to come and see Ten Forward. Didn't think I'd actually be serving here though."

            "Well Ensign, I'm Guinan. If there's anything you need, you just come right up to me and ask huh? What'll you have?"

            "Umm, you got any Bajoran ale?"

            "A steady supply. I'll grab the bottle. Say you seem pretty young. Is this your first assignment?"

            At that the girl almost laughed, "Oh no. I've been in Starfleet for about eight years now. Umm, for the past 13 months I've kinda been taking a break. Before that, I was on the longest mission of my life."

            "Oh? Where was that?"

            She took a while to answer, "The Starship Voyager."

            "Celes!" Harry exclaimed, finally recognizing who she was. "Tal Celes!"

            She spun around in her stool, surprised at the outburst, but even more surprised at the source, "Ensign Kim! Or…er, I'm sorry. Lieutenant!"

            Harry approached the bar and the two shook hands, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

            "Oh that's okay. It's really nice to finally _know_ someone on this huge ship. This is a lot bigger than Voyager."

            Harry nodded as Guinan came back with her drink, gracious enough to realize she had done her job well, and left the rest of the "Enterprise welcome" to Harry. 

            "So when did you go back on active duty?"

            "A few weeks ago. I applied to every ship I could get an application to," she added timidly, "Captain Janeway apparently gave me a good recommendation. I'm almost not sure I belong here. I mean, Captain Picard?!"

            Harry laughed, "I know exactly how you feel." Then he motioned to his data Padd. "Gotten anything from Naomi Wildman recently?"

            "Well, as a matter of fact-"

            "Lieutenant Commander Data to Lieutenant Kim." The comm system chimed in.

            Harry hit his communicator. 

            "Kim here."

            "We require your assistance Lieutenant. Please report to the senior staff briefing room."

            Harry's smile disappeared, "Yes sir. I'm on my way."

            "The senior staff briefing room?" Celes asked, "You're already pretty important here."

            But Harry gave her a nervous look, "Actually, I'm not at _all that important here. I wonder what that's all about."_

            "Well, you'd better go…I um, hope everything's all right."

            "Yeah, I hope so too."

            "Thank you for coming Lieutenant." Data stated as Kim walked in the room.

            Kim nodded, momentarily in awe of the place he was standing in. This was the briefing room of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Captain Picard, Commander Riker, Lieutenant Commander Data, Dr. Crusher, Lieutenant Commander LaForge. They were all in the same room, waiting for _him._ It wasn't like he'd never seen them before. He often rotated into Commander Data's ops station when he was needed and had served directly under the Captain. And of course he was a regular on away missions with Riker. But never had he seen the briefing room or been part of something that was, judging by the serious expressions on their faces, so obviously important. 

            "Please, have a seat Lieutenant."

            "Thank you Captain."

            "Lieutenant Kim," Picard started, "At 0600 hours, the Enterprise received an encrypted message from a small science vessel. It was sent over several channels through the worm hole that leads to the Beta Quadrant near Deep Space Five," Harry nodded as he continued, "I'm afraid it appears to be from a close friend of yours. He mentions your name several times."

            "A science vessel?"

            "Yes. It's called the Darwin."

            "Tom," he said, his stomach starting to churn.

            "Yes, Tom Paris," Riker continued, "Only fragments of the audio message came through. We'd like you to listen to it."

            Kim nodded hesitantly as random thoughts passed through his mind. It was amazing what terrible scenarios the human mind can create in only a few seconds. But every possible situation that the Paris's could've been involved in all played out in his head in the time it took for Commander Data to play the message.

            _"This is Tom Paris of the federation science vessel Darwin…on a mission to Packard 3…debris field…missing ships. I'm sending this encrypted because…engines are in need of repairs…lost main power to………Harry Kim…recognize the data I'm sending…B'Elanna's in trouble…Get the data to Janeway…may not have a lot of time…Harry…please hurry…losing more power…got to-"_

            The message ended as Harry immediately began replaying the important parts over in his mind. _Recognize the data…we may not have a lot of time…B'Elanna's in trouble._

            "The data he sent, is it in tact?"

            Data looked at LaForge across the table who sighed as he handed Kim a Padd. "I'm afraid there's not much on here. Just a few images of the debris field, some half-deleted schematics we think are from a leftover mission, and some weapons signatures that we're unfamiliar with."

            "Mr. Paris expressed that he believed you would know more about this data he sent us," Captain Picard told him, walking over to his chair. "It sounds like he's in desperate trouble. If there's anything you recognize…"

            Kim took the Padd carefully and examined the data. LaForge appeared to be right at first. There wasn't much there. Then he saw something. A frequency grid he hadn't seen in years. But it was a sight he would never forget. His face went pale as he looked up at the Captain. "This is a weapons signature of a species we came across in the Delta Quadrant," he said slowly, his mouth going dry. He hesitated, frantically trying to find his voice.

            "Can you be more specific Lieutenant?"

            "Captain, I'm afraid the federation is in great danger."

            "Why, Mr. Kim?"

            An eternity seemed to pass before he summoned the courage to finish, "It's Species 8472."

* * * * *


	6. Silenced

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 6:

Silenced 

It was silent on the bridge. That was always the first thing she noticed in the morning. There was no banter. These were born and bred Starfleet officers. They knew their job and they did it with professionalism. That was the biggest difference, when it's a bridge with a Vulcan, an ex-Maquis, an ex-Starfleet ex-Maquis ex-convict, and a green ensign, with Starfleet being 70,000 light years away; the bridge was often the most interesting place to be. Often, Janeway liked the silence, but today was not one of them. She had as feeling today was going to be a bad day. She needed noise. She needed the fun.

            "Captain, there's a message coming for you from the Enterprise," Tuvok stated.

            _I was right. It is going to be one of those days, she thought as she said, "I'll take it in my ready-room."_

            When she got to her desk, she pressed a button and Jean-Luc Picard's face appeared on the terminal. "What can I do for you Captain?"

            Ten minutes later, Captain Janeway hurried onto the bridge. "Helm turn us around, maximum warp."

            "Sir?" the helmsman asked.

            Janeway ignored the title this time. 

            "We're going back to Earth. There will be a senior briefing in three minutes."

            Three minutes later, the Athena's senior officers were all in the briefing room.

            "I can't go into details at this moment in time," Janeway started, "but when we get to Earth, there is going to be a crew transfer."

            They didn't ask any questions, so she continued, "The transfer is going to replace the senior staff."

            That got their attention. They all started to protest, but Tuvok's voice of logic spoke out, "Is there a particular reason that you are doing this Captain?"

            "I need a more experienced crew. Many of the junior officers will be leaving as well." Knowing that saying anymore will breach orders, she simply finished with, "Dismissed."

            As the senior staff stormed out, she stopped Tuvok. "You'll be staying Tuvok."

            Tuvok turned around and gave her a questioning look. 

            "You're a part of the experienced senior staff. Tuvok," she hesitated, "Tom and B'Elanna's science vessel encountered at least one vessel of Species 8472. The Enterprise received a distress call from the vessel this morning. I've been given authorization to replace as many of the Athena's crew with Voyager's crew."

            "Lieutenant Kim, you were one of the senior staff aboard Voyager correct?"

            Kim nodded. He was now in the Captain's ready room, another amazing place to witness. However, legendary Starship decks were hardly of any consequence to him now. _B'Elanna's in trouble, was the only thing that entered his mind._

            "Very well, I am placing you in charge of gathering the people Captain Janeway requested. You are one of them. We also acquired several former Voyager crew in the last year. This is a list of the men and women Captain Janeway feels are most needed."

            "Thank you Captain. We'll be ready by the time we rendezvous at Earth."

            "Dismissed."

            Harry nodded and left the office, heading down the Enterprise corridors as quickly as possible. As he did so, he glanced at the names on the list. There were only about a dozen Voyager crew aboard the Enterprise. It wouldn't be any trouble gathering them in time. His first stop was Engineering.

            "Tal, what are you doing?"

            "I-I'm sorry Commander. I thought it was a shift in the field polarity. I was t-trying to compensate."

            "Reverse the containment field dampeners," LaForge shouted to another officer as he headed over to Tal's station. "You have to learn the difference between a sensor malfunction and a serious dilemma like the warp corps field."

            "I-I'm sorry."

            But LaForge just smiled and put his hand on her shoulder, "Celes, stop being sorry and just pay a little more attention. You've been doing fine. Just check with me next time ok?"

            Celes nodded as LaForge returned to work…and she turned around to sink back to her chair.

            Harry, who had seen the end of the confrontation, just chuckled as he approached the distressed Ensign.

            "Bad day?"

            Celes looked up, "Lieutenant Kim! What are you doing down here?"

            "Looking for you," he said, his expression turning serious once more, "You're being transferred at 0800 hours tomorrow morning."

            Celes looked about ready to cry, "Already? But LaForge said I was doing ok-"

            "You're not being punished Celes. I'm being transferred too."

            "Why?"

            "We're going to the U.S.S. Athena under the command of Captain Janeway. Species 8472 has reached the Alpha Quadrant."

* * * * *


	7. Reunited

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 6:

Re-united 

"Good morning," Annika said as Icheb walked slowly into the kitchen area. Icheb had been released from Starfleet medical last night and instead of going back to the dorms, went to Annika's house.

            Icheb basically just nodded as he rummaged through the cupboard for some food. He was still incredibly sore from the surgery, but his hunger pulled him out of bed.

            "Do you want me to make something for you?" Irene Hansen asked him.

            "Sure," he said as he sat down at the table next to Annika.

            "Feeling any better?" Annika asked.

            "A little."

            "You'll be better in no time," Irene stated reassuringly. 

            Annika and Icheb both smiled as Irene went back to cooking. But the chirp of a Starfleet comm signal broke the peaceful moment. 

            "I will return momentarily," Annika left the table and headed for the computer console in the den.  

            She tapped a button and Captain Janeway's face appeared on the screen.

            "Captain," Annika began surprised to see her old friend. "I didn't expect-"

            "We have a problem."

"What is it?"

            "Species 8472 has been spotted. I need you to come with us."

            The news was a little much for Annika. She remembered Species 8472 being the race she feared the most because of her Borg upbringing. She simply nodded at Janeway's request. 

            Janeway continued, "Tuvok and Harry already know. We will be spending most of the afternoon notifying crew of the situation. I need you to coordinate with them so that you'll all be ready when the Athena arrives at 2200 tonight."

            "Understood, Captain."

            "I'll see you soon. Janeway out."

            The crew was assembled. Annika Hansen was given a commission rank of Lieutenant for protocol purposes and assigned to the Athena's Astrometrics lab. The principles of Astrometrics had been so useful on Voyager that Captain Janeway had insisted that one be installed as soon as possible. And now, there was no one she would rather have running it than Annika. Harry Kim and Tuvok took their original positions on the bridge and prepared for warp as Janeway briefed her old crew on the situation. As she walked throughout cargo-bay one, relating the circumstances of Species 8472, an odd feeling came over her. The last time she had addressed them, they were saying good-bye. Now, they were re-united. Together for one last battle. And although the situation was critical and the mission dangerous, she was sure that she felt an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and pride among the crew. All at once she felt more confident than she had in over a year. Species 8472 was in for a surprise. They were about to face Voyager.

* * * * *


	8. Underway

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 8:

Underway 

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

            But there was no emergency. Janeway just looked at her old friend and smiled. "Hello Doctor."

            "Captain," he said respectfully, and shook her hand. "It's good to be aboard. I was briefed by Lieutenant Barclay at your request before they transferred me."

            "I'm glad you're here."

            "Captain," he said, moving forward, "It's truly an honor to be serving with you again. These past 13 months at Lieutenant Barclay's research center have been…less than eventful. But are you sure there are no…hard feelings between you and Doctor Bartlett."

            Janeway nodded in understanding. Dr. Bartlett had been somewhat offended when she informed him the Doctor would be coming back. But she wasn't worried. "Doctor," she said patting his shoulder, "There's no other physician I would rather have for this mission."

            The Doctor just smiled. "Thank you Captain."

            "Captain on the bridge," Harry called out. Janeway almost jumped at the command. 

            "Harry, I've forgotten what that sounded like, coming from you." Harry grinned and looked back at his console. 

            "I figured you had Captain. It's good to be back under your command."

            Janeway walked over to the Captain chair and looked at her first officer's chair. Commander McGary had originally intended to go along with his Captain when the situation arose. With Chakotay actually being out of Starfleet now, combined with the fact that Janeway had known McGary to be a very trusting and loyal officer, she saw no reason to replace him with an alternate Voyager crewmember. But McGary wouldn't in fact be joining them. At the last minute, he was called away on urgent family business. Janeway all but ordered him to go. If his family needed him, she wasn't about to take him into an area of space where, truth be told, they might not be coming back from. There wasn't time to find another qualified first officer so Tuvok had agreed to share responsibilities between tactical and command. Still, there wasn't anything she wouldn't give to have Chakotay back at her side…and Tom Paris at the helm. In fact, of all the people she had specifically requested from Starfleet, about one-third of them had either been reported unavailable or chosen not to go. She understood of course. There were some that would rather not face 8472 unless they absolutely had to. Still, she was grateful for the members of her Voyager family that had come back. Every one of them would be needed at their stations. She looked from Harry to Tuvok and then back to the viewscreen. 

            "Janeway to Odyssey, we're ready to get under way."

            "You're cleared to go, good luck, Athena."

            "Helm, take us out. Lay in a course to the last known coordinates of the Darwin. One-third impulse until we clear the space station, then take us to maximum warp."

            "Aye, Sir."

            Harry looked over at the Captain who was giving this look to the helmsman. He remembered the day he and Tom first walked in the ready-room and Harry made that mistake, twice. The memory brought him back to the present and the message the Enterprise had received from Tom. He watched impatiently as the stars whipped by and he silently pleaded to his friends.

* * * * *

After leaving Earth's solar system, the senior staff met in the briefing room. It was there that they heard Tom's distress call, Harry having been the only one to have heard it, and they discussed ideas and scenarios. 

            "The Doctor and I can begin modifying Borg nano-probes, for weapons," Annika said.

            "Good. Doctor, you have a larger medical staff. Use whatever resources you need to."

            "Understood," the Doctor replied. 

            "Captain, there are six more crewmen who have volunteered to help, but were unable to make it to Earth," Tuvok informed her.

            "Who?" Janeway asked.

            "Ayala, O'Donnell, Kyoto, Ashmore, Gennaro, and Mulchaey," he responded.

            "Where are they?"

            "They have rendezvoused on a station that is fifteen light years from here, towards the Darwin's location."

            "Send a message to them, we'll be picking them up."

* * * * *


	9. Bad Idea

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 9:

Bad Idea 

"No."

            "We could use you on this mission. Tuvok contacted us and said he was coming."

"I'm not needed."

            "Yes you are,"  Ayala insisted. "I've known you for almost ten years. This is something we can do. We don't know if they're going to attack Earth, we can stop them if they are. Anyways, Chakotay, this is B'Elanna and Tom we're talking about."

            Chakotay sighed. It was total coincidence that he was at this station. He was supposed to meet Ayala and O'Donnell and just reminisce on old times in the Maquis and Voyager, but instead Ayala was telling him about a new mission with the Voyager crew.

            "There's no need for me to be aboard that ship. And if you don't mind my saying so, this mission is suicide. The only reason we survived last time was because of…the Borg."

            "What happened to you?" he asked almost in a sympathetic way. Chakotay looked up, "I watched you a lot on Voyager. You loved it. You couldn't wait to get to work. You admired the Captain more than anyone I know. She needs you too."

            "I said no Ayala…and I mean it."

            Ayala shrugged and nodded to O'Donnell, who picked up their gear and headed for the docking bay. "If you change your mind," taking one look back, "We'll be in bay two at 1300."

            Chakotay gave a slight nod and went back to his drink. He would be in bay three at that time, getting ready to head home. He couldn't go back to Voyager. There was just no way…

            "Tuvok to Captain Janeway."

            "Go ahead Commander."

            "The additional crew is aboard, Captain. But I have a request."

            "What's that?"

            "Please report to Transporter room one."

            Janeway glanced at Harry, raising her eyebrows, "Why?"

            "There is someone here who wishes to see you."

            Janeway nodded at Harry to take temporary command of the bridge and headed to the transporter room. She hoped this wasn't Tuvok's uncharacteristic attempt of making this Voyager reunion even more sentimental than it already was. She had already had over two-dozen officers volunteering for away missions and there weren't even any away missions needed yet. If the crew was aboard, Tuvok should have just assigned them to the posts that-

            It was then that she walked into the room and her eyes came upon a man she hadn't seen in 11 months.

            "Permission to come aboard, Captain," Chakotay asked with a small smile.

            Janeway moved forward to embrace her friend. "Permission granted," she said, pulling back to shake his hand, "Commander."

            Harry walked slowly down the corridors of Athena. It was strange being back with the Voyager crew, but on a different ship. Somehow, it didn't feel right. But he knew he was imagining things. It wasn't the ship that was bothering him. It was Tom and B'Elanna. He just hoped they weren't too late.

            It took a while for him to actually find the mess hall. For a ship that was supposed to be a sister ship to Voyager, it sure didn't seem like much. They wouldn't arrive at the coordinates for another couple hours. The Captain had all but ordered the crew to try and relax until then. He walked into the hall and ordered a coffee. He paused when he turned back around. He was amazed at how familiar this scene was. It was all the same groups. The same cliques and friendships were rapidly reforming. He was about to find a seat when a particular Bajoran caught his eye. Way back in the corner was Tal, Celes- sitting by herself.

            "Mind if I join you Celes?"

            Celes nearly jumped out of her seat.

            "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

            "Oh no, no. I'm sorry Lieutenant. I-I was just thinking."

            "Oh, I could come back if you want."

            "No no, that's not what I meant. I- er, you can…yes, please have a seat Lieutenant."

            Harry chuckled as he carefully pulled up a chair, almost afraid that any sudden movements would give this poor girl a heart attack.

            "You seem awfully jumpy today."

            "Oh, it's nothing Lieutenant. I'm just…nervous."

            "It's Harry, Celes. You don't have to keep calling me Lieutenant."

            Celes looked down, "Oh. Ok…Harry."

            "Something wrong? Why are you sitting here by yourself?"

            Celes sighed. Did he have to ask her that question? "Nothing, I'm-I'm okay."

            Harry wasn't convinced, but he decided not to push it. "Ok," he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

            "It's just that it's a little…different here." 

            "Well, yeah. It's a different ship for one."

            "That's not what I mean."

            "Well then, what _do_ you mean?"

            Celes sighed. She really didn't want to get into this. On the other hand, Harry was the one person who had talked to her all day. She had to tell someone. 

            "If you'd rather not talk about it-"

            "No, that's ok. It's…actually nice to have someone to talk to. I…never really had a lot of friends on Voyager. The few close…crewmates I conversed with, chose not to come and my best friend…well, he's uh, no longer with us."

            "You mean Billy Telfor." Harry said solemnly.

            "How did you know?"

            "I wasn't blind for seven years Celes. I got to know the crew pretty well, even if I wasn't openly close with all of them. You and Billy were always together. I'm…sorry about what happened to him."

            "Guess you heard that too huh? The accident on Tallus 4?"

            Harry nodded and looked down at his coffee. 

            "Seems like once he was cured of his hypochondria, he wasn't afraid of anything," she said, then added quietly, "Even pilot training."

            Harry sighed. "Guess the past year hasn't been as exciting for you as getting home to Earth should've been."

            Celes shook her head, her eyes beginning to water. _Dammit, _she thought. She didn't want to cry. But thinking about Billy often inspired that reaction. Still, it was nice to finally relieve some of the grief. She'd been holding it in so long, she'd forgotten how helpful it could be to just talk.

            "I'm sorry Celes. If there's anything I can do."

            But she just shook away her sadness and smiled. "You already have Lieutenant. Thanks."

            "_Harry."_

            "…Harry."

            "Any time."

            Harry left the mess hall not too long after his talk with Celes. He had actually wanted to stay and talk, but Janeway had called him back to the bridge. On the way though, she stayed in his mind. Talking to Tal made him realize that life back in the Alpha Quadrant wasn't what _anyone_ had anticipated. It wasn't as if he'd rather be stuck out in the Delta Quadrant. But he couldn't help but admit that their adapted life on Voyager was far more sheltered and satisfying than any of them had realized. It again made him think of Tom and B'Elanna. If they hadn't made it back, the two of them would be perfectly safe, assuredly alive and due to shoot a game of pool with Harry in the holodeck. Then again, something catastrophic might have destroyed them all and none of them would have gotten home. It was a constant and conflicting battle that was being fought in his head. It's a battle that Tal Celes had obviously been seriously wounded from. As he entered the bridge, he wondered how many more casualties there would be.

            _So far so good, Chakotay said to himself. He'd been on the Athena a little over six hours now, and there was still no sign of her. The Captain had been very clear when she told the crew to try and relax for the time it took to reach Tom's coordinates. In true Janeway fashion, she was again attempting to manufacture and cause as many good feelings and heal as many old wounds as possible by letting her crew get reacquainted…in other words, she was sticking her nose in other people's business. He was here to help save Tom and B'Elanna and to assist his old Captain in any way he could. He wasn't here to make peace with-_

            "Chakotay."

            Chakotay froze in mid-stride. _Oh God, no._ Knowing all too well who's voice had called him, he turned around slowly, hoping that some foolish spiritual animal would pick him up and carry him off. "Hello Annika."

            Annika took a deep breath, trying to prevent her pulse from exploding. Even after an entire year, her heart was still racing. Things had not ended well between them of course and the sight of him now sent her heart rate straight up. Tuvok would call the reaction, illogical. His absence from her life for so long and her success in spite of it should have warranted a more civil feeling toward him. However, she had a feeling that Captain Janeway would rather call it…human.

            "I was unaware Captain Janeway located you."

            "I was unaware myself. I was visiting Ayala and O'Donnell on the station when they received the message. I guess you could say they convinced me the trip was worth my while."

            Annika nodded, "I'm sure the Captain is pleased that you've joined us."

            "Are you?" _Damn, he thought, immediately after. __Shouldn't have said that. Way to go Commander._

            "Why would your presence here please me?"

            "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

            "Answer the question."

            "Just thought you might be happy…to see an old friend."

            "As far as I'm concerned, a man who says he'll remain…close…and then decides to live on a different planet and refuses to make contact for over a year…is not a friend."

            Chakotay remained silent.

            "Then again, my _research_ may be flawed. Perhaps I should consult the Doctor further on the subject."

            "Seven-…sorry, Annika. Can we at least try to…begin again?"

            But Annika wouldn't answer. The struggle between her emotions was getting too difficult. "I'm sorry Commander, I must return to Astrometrics."

            With that she walked away, fighting the urge to look back. As she did so, Chakotay watched her go. _Damn,_ he thought again, _I knew this was a bad idea._

* * * * *


	10. Search and Rescue

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 10:

Search and Rescue 

Janeway had called yellow alert. They would be reaching the last know coordinates of the Darwin in a few minutes.

            Chakotay entered the bridge as Janeway asked, "Harry, have you picked up the ship yet?"

            "Negative, Captain. I'm trying to extend our sensor range."

            _Poor Harry. Chakotay thought as he took his seat next to Janeway._ His two best friends, and his goddaughter are aboard that ship, and he was the first one of us to hear Tom's distress call_. Janeway had played it for him during his briefing after coming aboard. _

            "Captain, I am picking up the debris field that Mr. Paris had reported," Tuvok informed the bridge officers. "However, I do not believe that the Darwin is among them."

            _That doesn't mean that they weren't destroyed somewhere else, Harry let his imagination get the better of him again. A sudden beeping brought his attention back to the controls in front of him. "Captain, I think I've got something."_

            "What is it?"

            Harry didn't respond immediately. He wanted to make sure that the sensors were correct. "It's a ship, and it's got a Federation signature."

            "Give the coordinates to the helm."

            "Already done."

            "Helm, take us there at maximum speed."

            "Understood," the helmsman answered quickly.

            Harry continued to watch his sensors as they got closer to the Darwin. He should have been detecting something about the vessel by now. "Captain, I'm reading minimal life support on one of the four decks."

            "Any life signs?" the Captain asked.

            Harry's paling face was the answer she got.

            "Harry?" she began to ask again.

            "I'm picking up four life signs, all faint," he answered slowly.

            _Four's better than none, Janeway thought. "Did Tom ever say how many were on board?"_

            _'Nine crewmen and eight civilians, a couple of them children,' Tom's words rang through his mind. "There were seventeen people on board, including civilians."_

            Janeway thought about the number of people. Although, she hated to see any person killed, it looked more and more likely that her extended family would not all be coming back. "Chakotay, take an away team over to the Darwin."

            "Tuvok, Harry, you're with me," Chakotay said as he headed for the Turbolift.

            There were no lights working in the corridors when the away team beamed over. The trio turned on their wrist lights and slowly made their way down the darkened hallway. 

            Harry's tricorder picked up a life sign. "In here." He pointed to a half open door.

            Tuvok and Chakotay pried open the doors the rest of the way, and Harry walked in first. His breath caught in his throat and his stomach churned. In front of him, there were four bodies. Chakotay was also frozen on the spot, and Tuvok hesitated before he went over towards the bodies. 

            Chakotay looked over the scene. It was then that he realized that this was a family. There were two children, a husband, and a wife. "Tuvok?"

            Tuvok pointed to the husband, "He is alive but seriously injured. I suggest that we beam him to sickbay immediately." 

            "Chakotay to Voyager."

            "Go ahead."

            "We've found a survivor. He needs to get to sickbay."

            "We've got a lock on him." The man's body shimmered out of sight. "Keep looking, Chakotay. Janeway out."

            Quietly, Chakotay spoke, "we can't do anything more for these people, but there are others who need our help. Let's keep going."

            Tuvok and Chakotay both turned to leave, but Harry still stood frozen. Chakotay realized Harry hadn't spoken a word. He put a hand on the young Lieutenant's shoulder. "Harry, you okay?"

            "No."

            As they ventured further into the ship, they found similar horrors. They beamed over another survivor along the way, but were having trouble locating the other two. Finally, Harry came across a small opening in a pile of debris. He couldn't be sure, but he felt like he had dropped at least two decks by the time the tunnel ended. He stood up in the middle of a debris disaster, surveyed it quickly and figured he'd come across another dead end. But he suddenly became aware of movement at the other end of the room.

            "Hello?" he called out, drawing his phaser out of habit. Cautiously, he moved toward the motion, but no one answered him. "Anyone there?"

            Finally, he leaned over a fallen bulkhead and saw a man cowering in the corner. Slowly, the man lifted up his head. His eyes were tired and he seemed to squint up at Harry as if he couldn't quite see him. He obviously hadn't shaved in weeks and it seemed as if any energy he had left was wrapped up in the bundle he held in his arms. Clutched close to his chest was a tiny, sickly child.

            "Tom!" he yelled, shoving parts of the junk away as he rushed to his friend.

            "Kim to Chakotay. I've found Tom!"

            "Good work. Beam him and yourself directly to sickbay. We'll keep looking for the fourth life sign."

            "No need Commander. I've found it. It's Miral…his daughter."

* * * * *


	11. Blame

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 11:

Guilt 

Chakotay made his way to the bridge. He had to report in to Janeway before checking on the survivors. Janeway was sitting in her chair reading a report. He had serious doubts that Janeway knew one of the survivors was Tom, or else she'd be down in sickbay.

            Janeway noticed Chakotay's arrival, stood up and pointed to her ready-room. They silently walked in. As soon as the door closed, Janeway started, "Report."

            "The four survivors are in sickbay."

            "Do you know who they are?" she asked.

            "We don't know two of them, but the other two are Tom and Miral."

            Janeway exhaled, not realizing she'd been holding her breath. But then another name came to her, "B'Elanna?"

            "We didn't find her," Chakotay spoke softly. "She's the only one not accounted for."

            Janeway stared out the window for a moment. "We should go down to sickbay, see if they can tell us anything."

            The two headed down to sickbay in silence.

            Janeway knew that she should be prepared for the worst. He had sustained heavy injuries and it was estimated that his ship existed in that condition for several weeks before the Athena found him. Still, it wasn't enough to prepare her for the sight of her old, outgoing, sarcastic helmsman…she almost didn't recognize him.

            When they arrived, the Doctor was in the far corner, treating the wounds on Miral. Harry was standing over Tom.

            "Captain," the Doctor said as she walked in. 

            "How are they?"

            "The baby is fine. Just some minor bruises and mild malnutrition."

            "And Tom?"

            The Doctor sighed, "It appears that Tom suffered massive internal hemorrhaging while aboard the Darwin. He's also suffered severe cuts and lost approximately 4 units of blood. I can repair the damage, but it's going to take some intense physical therapy, and quite frankly, a lot of synthesized blood. I think the away team got to him, just in time."

            Janeway nodded and proceeded to the bio-bed. She watched carefully as Harry pulled away and allowed her room to talk.

            "Tom," she whispered. 

            "Captain Janeway," he rolled his head over and tried to smile, "…been a long time."

            Janeway placed her hand over his, "Doc says you're going to be all right Mr. Paris. And so is Miral."

            Tom turned away and coughed for a while. Sensing a fit was imminent; the Doctor rushed over and gave him a suppressant to calm his nerves. Once settled down, Tom continued to speak again. "B'Elanna…"

            "I know, we're still looking for her-"

            "No," in between coughs, "B'Elanna…she's- she was- captured."

            "Captured…by 8472?" 

Tom nodded.

Janeway looked at Harry, and then back at the patient, "I thought they didn't take prisoners."

But Tom shook his head, "They do now Captain. Why do you think I'm still alive?"

Janeway was getting nervous. She didn't like the way this conversation was going. "What do you mean?"

"If they wanted to kill me, they would have. They took B'Elanna…because they know you would fight for her…they kept me alive so that I could…give you their message."

"Their message?"

Tom began to shift his arms around so he could get to his pocket. "In…in my right pocket."

Janeway nodded to Harry, who reached forward and took the data Padd from Tom. He fiddled around with it for a few minutes and found the file Tom was talking about. Janeway watched in suspense. Harry's face went white as he handed over the data Padd. Carefully, she read the message, "The weak shall perish…Janeway must die."

            Janeway and Chakotay left sickbay a few minutes later, the data Padd still in Janeway's hand. "What's our weapons status?"

            "Annika says that the Borg enhanced weaponry should be ready within five hours."

            "Good," Janeway responded. The two walked the rest of the way to her ready room. "It's my fault."     

            "How is any of this your fault?"

            "I made the alliance with the Borg five years ago. It could have been avoided if I'd listened to you."

            "You made a decision based on what you knew at the time. We'll deal with this situation as we've dealt with every other one; and we'll win. We may have to equip the entire fleet with weapons against Species 8472, but we can defeat them. We have the technology and the know-how."

            Janeway looked out the window of her ready room. "Come on, let's find B'Elanna." 

* * * * *


	12. What happened?

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 12:

What happened? 

Tom was laying on a couch in guest quarters that were given to him. Miral lay sleeping on his chest, an arrangement that both found comforting. The Doctor wanted him to stay in sickbay, but Tom felt he would do better away from people right now. He should have been sleeping, but there was too much going on. _Where is she? He thought as he worried about B'Elanna. __Is she okay? Or have they killed her?_

            Tom was brought out of his frightening thoughts when the door chimed. Not wanting to disturb Miral, Tom didn't move from his spot. "Come."

            The door opened to reveal Harry standing in the corridor.

            "Harry, come in," Tom said when he saw his best friend. 

            Harry stopped after the door closed. They hadn't talked when they were in sickbay, and Harry wasn't sure what to say. _Hi, how's it going?_ Just didn't seem appropriate when Tom's wife was being held hostage by a deadly alien.

            Tom noticed the discomfort Harry was in and started the conversation. "So the Enterprise just wasn't exciting enough," he chuckled awkwardly. 

            Harry nodded as he sat in the chair next to Tom. "Doesn't quite compare."

            Silence again filled the room until Miral started crying. Tom looked down at his daughter. "Doesn't look like she wants to sleep anymore." He thought for a second, "what time is it?"

            Harry thought the question was weird but answered it anyway. "It's about 0300."

            _Creature of habit, Tom thought. "Which brings me to my next question, what are you doing up at three in the morning?" Tom started to move to walk Miral around the room, but groaned as he tried to move._

            "Do you want me to hold her?" Harry asked standing up.

            "Sure." Harry took his goddaughter from Tom and started to slowly pace the room. After a couple minutes, Tom spoke again, "You didn't answer my question."

            Harry stopped pacing the room and stared out the window. Miral had finished her crying and was resting peacefully in her godfather's arms. "I'm up for the same reason you are," he finally replied.

            Tom looked down away from Harry for a few moments. When he looked back up, the pain was evident on his face. "They've probably killed her by now."

            "Tom," Harry walked back to the chair and sat down. "What happened over there?"

            "It's a long story…"

            _"You're needed on the Bridge immediately," Lyman called down about five minutes after Tom left. _

_            "I'll be right there," B'Elanna responded. She quickly changed and dropped Miral off with another family._

_            As she entered the Bridge, the first thing she noticed was the semi-shocked look on her husband's face. "What's wrong?" _

_            "We found a debris field that was from Federation Starships," B'Elanna looked at the viewscreen while Tom spoke. "The weapon signature matches that of Species 8472."_

_            "What?!" She walked over to the console to double check their findings. _This can't be. They can't be here.__

_            "It's them all right," Tom said, answering her thoughts._

_            "We have to alert Starfleet."_

_            "We were about-"_

_            "Tom, I'm picking up some sort of power surge from within the debris field," Abbey interrupted. _

            _Tom didn't hesitate for a second. He immediately walked over to the helm and plotted a course. "I need shields up now, I'm getting us out of here."_

_            "What's going on?" Josh asked looking between the two former Starfleet officers._

_            "It's their weapon," was all B'Elanna answered with, never looking away from her console._

_            "Isn't there something that we could stop it?" Josh asked again._

_            "Nothing that we have."_

_            "B'Elanna, I need warp drive now," Tom quickly said._

_            "I'm picking up a ship closing on us," Abbey reported. "I think they're firing."_

_            Tom tried to evade the weapon but the energy blast grazed the shields of the Darwin, throwing everyone from their consoles."_

_            "Shields are down," Abbey said as she pulled herself back to her console._

_            "Tom, you've got warp," B'Elanna yelled._

_            Tom didn't waste his breath responding and just got them out of there._

_            "They're pursuing," Abbey stated, "warp 5, warp 6."_

_            "I can keep us at warp 6.5 for another twenty minutes, and then I'm going to have to slow down." Tom silently cursed the ship for not having better warp engines._

_            "They've reached warp 7."_

_            It wouldn't take more than a few minutes for Species 8472 to overtake the Darwin and everyone there knew it._

_            "I'm going to take us into the nebula that we were investigating yesterday," Tom said suddenly, "it may fool their sensors and it'll give us some time to repair our shields."_

_            Not having any other options, everyone else concurred. Three minutes later, the Darwin dropped out of warp into the nebula with Species 8472 close behind._

_            It had been several hours and repairs were being made to the shield matrix. Suddenly, turbulence rocked the ship. _

_            "They're firing again," Abbey said, "but they're shooting blind. They can't see us."_

_            "Well, they're eventually going to get it right, I'm getting us out of here," Tom started pressing buttons on his console. The ship flew closer to the rim of the nebula, when the 8472 ship showed up on the viewscreen. _

_            "Tom."_

_            "I see it," Tom tried to avoid the weapon again, but it still hit the ship. The ship rocked, sparks flew, and bulkheads fell. The lights went out and consoles all blinked into blackness._

_            If he had been unconscious, it had only been for a few minutes, as awareness came back to him, he remembered the other person on the bridge. "Abbey?" No response. He tried again, "Abbey?"_

_            He crawled across to where she had been. He found her dead body. Tom froze for a minute, but then made his way to the Jeffries tube. He had to make sure Miral and B'Elanna were all right. _

_            He found B'Elanna and several other crewmen in the engine room trying to restore power. Tom ran over to B'Elanna. "Are you okay?"_

_            She nodded and returned to her work. "I'm not sure if we can get power back on-line," she told him. "Are they still out there?"_

_            "I assume so. I don't see why they just would have left."_

_            "Why haven't they just finished us off?"_

_            "I don't know," he shook his head. "They're circling like vultures."_

_            She paused for a minute. "I can try to get main power back on-line by rerouting-"_

_            "B'Elanna we have to evacuate."_

_            "But-" _

_            "We have to go now."_

_            "Let me try one thing." He wanted to interrupt again, but she stopped him. "Find Miral, get everyone else out of here and then come back for me."_

_            He wasn't going to waste time arguing with her so he left to get Miral. Along the way he told the crew to get to the escape pods. He'd only found about nine people alive by the time he made it to where Miral was staying. He took her and told the person watching her to head for an escape pod. Tom then returned to engineering to get B'Elanna._

_            He set Miral down away from anything relatively dangerous and walked over to B'Elanna. "We have to go."_

_            "Just give me one more-"_

_            "Now," he practically yelled._

_            "Fine."_

            As they turned to leave, they heard a low hum around them. Tom turned just in time to see his wife beamed off the ship.

            "B'Elanna-" he started to yell but was cut off as the console next to him exploded, throwing up against a far wall. He felt blackness descend upon him as he heard more alarm klaxons going off. He fought to stay conscious, but ultimately lost.

_            Tom wasn't sure how long it he had been unconscious, but came to with Miral's crying. As he tried to move, he found himself in more pain than he had ever felt in his life. But, the sound of his daughter was the driving force he needed, and went to her, despite his pain. He thought he was going to lose consciousness again before he reached her but managed to make it. Laying next to her was a data Padd that had one simple statement on it, '_the weak will perish. Janeway must die,_' and Tom realized why everything had just happened. He made his way to the nearest console, and transmitted a distress call hoping someone would get it before it was too late._

            Tom had finished talking and the two sat in silence. Tom stared out the window his eyes misting over, thinking of the last memory of his wife.

            After a few more minutes, Harry looked over to Tom. "I'm so sorry."

            Tom looked him straight in the eye, "I'm sorry too."

            "For what?"

            "I realized what I did by sending the distress signal. Bringing you here was a death trap."

            The silence returned as Harry thought about what Tom just stated. The two stared out to the stars contemplating the little future that they had left. 

* * * * *


	13. Prison

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 13:

Prison 

Captain Janeway sat on the sofa in her ready room, her friend's life was all that was on her mind. The door chimed at that very second. "Come."

            Annika Hanson walked through the doors. "Captain, we have completed modification to all of the weapons."

            "Good," Janeway said as she stood up and walked toward the replicator. "Can I get you anything?"

            "No, thank you."

            "Coffee, black," the replicator performed accordingly as Janeway continued to talk with Annika. "So, how do you feel about all this? Species 8472 was the Borg's most hated enemy."

            Annika hesitated for a moment. "Four years ago, I thought that we had seen the last of Species 8472 when they promised not to come after us."

            _Something changed their minds, Janeway thought as she replayed the message they left behind in her head._

            "I am confused as to why they would choose now to attack, after so long a time," Annika continued.

            "They obviously changed their mind, and felt it would be to their advantage."

            "If they can come out of fluidic space at almost any point, why not attack the Athena itself? Why lure it here?"

            Truth be told, Janeway hadn't actually thought about that until now. _What kind of trap are they laying? What are they planning? "I guess we'll find out soon, won't we." _

            It was about 0800, and Captain Janeway was still in her ready room looking over their attack strategy when the door chimed. "Come in."

            Commander Chakotay walked through the door. "There's still no sign of Species 8472 on our long range sensors."

            "This makes no sense. They wanted me, here I am. Now, they aren't showing up at all. I don't like this waiting."

            "I doubt will have to wait that much longer," Chakotay paused to let Janeway say anything else. When she didn't, Chakotay changed the subject. "Do you know how Tom's doing?"

            "The Doctor released him to quarters late last night, thinking both he and Miral would sleep better out of sickbay."

             "How are the other survivors?"

            Janeway looked down at the report the Doctor had sent her and sighed. "One person is in a coma. The Doctor isn't sure that he'll live. The other one, his name is Josh, woke up about two hours ago. He lost his entire family on that ship." Chakotay would not forget the image of that family as long as he lived. "The Doctor says he should be fine in a couple of days, physically."

            Despite the fact that Janeway muttered the last word, Chakotay knew that she was going to blame herself for any deaths from the Darwin, and any possible future deaths related to this. "Kathryn-"

            Before Chakotay could continue, the door once again chimed.

            Glad to have Chakotay interrupted, Janeway said, "Come." Tom walked through the door. He was wearing civilian clothes, similar to what he probably wore on the Darwin. "Tom," she said, glad to see her former helmsman up and walking around. "How are you feeling?" 

            Tom shrugged and simply said, "Better." He sounded completely exhausted, and they both knew what Tom had been up thinking about.

            "How's Miral?"

            "She's good. I'm glad you guys came when you did."

            After a slight pause Janeway walked over to Tom from her desk. "There was something I wanted to ask you. We need a helmsman. I was hoping that you would consider taking a commissioned rank for this assignment. You'd be given the rank you were going to be given had you stayed, the rank of Lieutenant Commander."

            Tom looked down at his feet for a minute, thinking of the conversation eight years ago in the ready room that changed his life. And now, he'd be taking the rank to help save his wife.  "I'd be honored to, Captain."

            Janeway couldn't help but smile. "Good. Dismissed, Commander."

_The shuttlecraft flew in a warp speed toward the fleet of Species 8472. The shield modifications made the shuttle impervious to their sensors. Tom Paris slowed the shuttle to impulse behind Species 8472. _

            "Weapons armed and locked on," Tom said to the computer logs. "Searching for Klingon life-signs…got it! Preparing to transport."

            But Tom was cutoff by the sudden turbulence. 

            "I've been hit. Transporters and weapons are down," he reported to know one in particular. "I've lost shields."

            One last shot from the Species 8472 vessel and the shuttle was destroyed, killing its occupant…

"…No!" B'Elanna screamed. Every time she fell asleep the same nightmare happened. And every time she awoke, she was in a living nightmare. Her heart still pounding, she tried to convince herself that Tom was still alive._ How can he possibly be alive? She asked herself._ Species 8472 is merciless …and yet, I'm still alive. Why have they taken me hostage?_. B'Elanna looked around her surroundings as she shivered in the prison she'd been lying in for days. __Let Tom and Miral be okay,__ she prayed__, and please let me see them again. _

* * * * *


	14. Blank

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 14:

Blank 

Harry Kim sat staring at the stars as they flew by. They'd been in a holding pattern for 6 hours and there was still no sign of species 8472. The Captain had put everyone on yellow alert and allowed duty breaks to resume until something happened. Harry as usual, ended up in the mess hall, and as usual, found himself missing Neelix's idle banter and bad food. At a time like this, one of his best friends was missing, the other in complete distress, it would've been comforting to hear Neelix's theories on the screwed up culture of Alpha Quadrant beings. 

            "Mind if I join you?" 

            Kim looked up and met the eyes of a tired and worried man. "Take a seat," he said, offering a small smile, trying desperately not to come off as _too sympathetic. _

            Tom sighed as he pulled out a blue cushioned chair and slumped into it. "Miral finally fell asleep. Only took her six hours," he chuckled.

            Harry laughed, "She certainly grown the past few months. Starting to look more and more like you."

            For a brief moment, Harry caught a glimpse of the old Tom Paris in his sarcastic eyes, "Dear God I hope not."

            They laughed a little, and then silence again. It had never been this hard to find the right thing to say. Harry had always prided himself on that ability with Tom. Now, it was a skill that seemed to be lost. What do you say to a man whose wife had been captured and probably tortured by one of the fiercest and deadly creatures in the galaxy?

            "Excuse me, Lieutenant?"

            Grateful for the interruption and even more so when he saw who it was, Harry brightened up, "Celes. Tom, you remember Tal Celes?"

            Tom gave Harry another quintessential Paris look, "How could I forget? You want to join-"

            Lights started flashing as the comm system sounded, "Red alert! All hands to battle-stations." 

            Tom and Harry stepped off the turbolift onto the Bridge as the board Athena tried to evade another shot from their starboard side. 

            "Tuvok, return fire," Janeway barked.

            "How many ships are we dealing with?" Tom asked as he took the helm. 

            "We have two ships on sensors," Chakotay answered. 

            The ship was rocked again as the deadly weapon skimmed the Athena's shields. "Are the borg-enhanced weapons on-line yet?" Janeway looked over to Tuvok.

            "The are coming on-line now."  
            "Fire at will."

            Tuvok fired a full spread of borg-enhanced photon torpedoes at the two ships. "Direct hit to both vessels."

            Recalling their previous battle from five years ago, they knew the weapon would take a minute to take full affect. Yet when that moment came and went, the two species 8472 ships continued to line up for another attack. 

            "Janeway to Hanson, what went wrong?"

            From astrometrics, Annika had been monitoring their progress, or lack thereof, in the battle. "I do not know, Captain. The weapons were built to the exact specifications from five years ago."

            "Then why aren't they working!?"

            "They're coming around for another pass, Captain," Tom said, never taking his eyes off the viewscreen. 

            "Captain, shields are weakening," Tuvok reported.        

            "Tom, get us out of here," the Captain ordered.

             "But, Captain…" 

            Janeway cut off Tom's protest. "We're not going to be able to help B'Elanna if we're dead." 

            Tom was about to say something again when Harry interrupted, "Captain, I'm picking up some unusual readings from the species 8472 ships. The Captain, Chakotay and Tom all looked at their consoles, trying to see what Harry detected. "Captain, if I'm reading this correctly, an

inverse tachyon wave should be able to temporarily interrupt their shields."

            "I didn't think conventional weapons worked on them," Chakotay looked over to Janeway. 

            She nodded, agreeing with his statement, but decided to go with Harry's plan. "Chakotay, go help Harry make the modifications. Tom, can you out-maneuver them for a few minutes."

            "Absolutely." Tom responded with newfound focus and determination.

            Within five minutes, Harry had the experimental weapon on-line.

            "Tuvok, be prepared to fire as soon as you detect that the shields are down," Janeway ordered. "Harry, fire."

            The deflector dish emitted the tachyon wave towards the two ships, but instead of disabling them, they shimmered out of existence. 

            "Harry?"

            "I'm not detecting anything out there anymore Captain. There're no ships, nothing. It almost seems as if they were holograms."

            The Captain stared at the empty viewscreen. _What the hell?_

            The image of empty space was suddenly replaced by the view of a small room. In the far corner of the room was a small figure clad in civilian clothes and unconscious.

            "B'Elanna," Tom shouted as he jumped up from his chair. "B'Elanna." He shouted again, hoping that there was some way he could get a response from her; to know she was even still alive. He vaguely heard Janeway ordering Harry to find the source of the transmission, while he stared terrified for his beloved wife. 

            Just as suddenly as the image appeared, it was gone.

            "Harry, were you able to track the source?" The Captain asked. 

            "No ma'am." Both Harry and the Captain turned back to the front of the bridge where Tom was still standing, staring at the blank viewscreen. 

* * * * *

We usually don't do author's note, but I have to comment on one particular review. Yes…you're right. Harry is not, in the real Voyager Universe, Miral's Godfather…we just think that's stupid! It SHOULD be Harry. The mistake in continuity is on purpose and is the only detail in the Voyager universe we have consciously altered. 

_Thanks for all the reviews! Keep 'em coming! We love you all!_


	15. Alone

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 15:

Alone 

Usually Janeway enjoyed her frequent staff meetings. There was a sense of productivity among her confident crew. Plans were hatched and operations set into motion. But in a room full of men and women who hadn't served together in months and couldn't fathom what to do next, well to Janeway, it was a silent as it had been when they were gone.

            "It seems that some extra scans and investigations are in order here," Tuvok offered, breaking the silence."

            Janeway looked up, "Scans of what? Empty space?"

            "I believe Captain that with Tuvok's help, I may be able to modify the arrays," Annika said. "We may be successful in finding…_something._

            She looked at Tom, staring right through her at the stars creeping by the window, and nodded. "Chakotay, assign them your best team, preferably crews that can handle 'round the clock hours."

            "Lt. Potter to Captain Janeway," the comm sounded.

            "Go ahead Lieutenant."

            "There's some activity off our starboard bow. It appears to be a spatial distortion of some sort."

            "We're on our way."

            "On screen," she said, returning to her seat.

            "Good evening Captain." 

            Kathryn's heart seemed to leap into her throat as she rose slowly again from her chair. Staring back at her was a face she never again expected to see. It was Suspiria, the second of the Delta Quadrant Caretakers. "Suspiria."

            "I see you have made it back home, and in record time it seems."

            "Yes," she answered warily, "We were able to-"

            "Use Borg technology to your own advantage and destroy them at the same time."

            Janeway was silent. 

            "You think I haven't been watching you? Watching your every move and decision? You have always underestimated the higher beings, ever assuming that the Delta Quadrant existed for one purpose, and that was to present you with obstacles specifically designed to keep you from your precious home." 

            She didn't like where this was going. The sardonic look upon her face was more frightening than a fleet of species 8472.

            "You think the Borg were conceived to help you defeat 8472? Or that that Kazon enjoyed having to deal with your kind for several long months?

            "Suspiria-"

            "Do you think my partner pulled you into the Delta Quadrant intending to trap you here? Your selfishness has clouded your judgement for years Kathryn. Everything exists for your own virtues or vices. Just look at yourself. A warning from 8472 and you've assembled the entire drudgery of Voyager officers. And why? Because you were lonely without them. Your entire existence is based upon your own selfishness and my partner had to suffer for it. Before it was easy to sit by and watch your friends die under your command. It was sufficient punishment for killing the first caretaker."

            "Killing! Suspiria-"

            "But now you've made it home, and I don't feel any longer that you deserve the pathetically easy luck you've had with your Voyager crew. You will live the rest of your life paying for my partner's life."

            "But Suspiria, I didn't-"

            "Do not attempt to negotiate Captain. I am not a simple-minded species for you to toy with. You will live the rest of your existence searching for the crew you fought oh so valiantly to return to their homes. The crew you decided to reassemble for this mission, the crew you missed so much, you will spend eternity missing."

            "What are you talking-"

            "Look around you Captain. You're completely alone."

            Janeway's heart fell to her stomach as she realized that she was the only person on the bridge. She looked around frantically. Tom, Harry, Chakotay, Annika, Tuvok. They had vanished.

            "Your worst fear Kathryn. Your own living nightmare. Your crew…your family. Without them, you feel empty. Alone. No one around to understand you is there?"

            The Captain could no longer find the strength to argue or reason with the being. All she could to was stare at her empty bridge.

            "Now you know the way I feel without my counterpart. If I have to suffer with him being taken away from me, you will suffer the same. Enjoy the silence."

            Suspiria disappeared from the viewscreen. She was so stunned the tears didn't even come. Slowly, she lowered herself back to her chair and watched as the stars crept by. 

* * * * *__

_Author's Note: Soooooooooooo sorry it took so long to update this. Hopefully all our faithful readers will come back because we've so enjoyed your reviews. It's what's kept us from giving up on this completely. It won't be so long next time between updates…scout's honor! Enjoy!_


	16. Lost

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 16:

Lost 

Awareness came back to Tom in the form of a splitting headache. He tried sitting up from the position he had been lying in, realizing that instead of the clean, carpeted deck of the Athena, it was the dusty ground of a cave.

            _What happened? Tom asked himself, shaking his head to clear up his memories. The last thing he remembered was sitting at the helm, and Janeway was having a conversation with…Suspiria? Was that right?_

            Tom stood up taking a look at his surroundings. He was in a cave; one that had a vague familiarity to one he has been in before. He started walking around the cave trying to jog his memory. After a few minutes he stumbled across a door in the cave, and the memory instantly came back. The Vidiian caves, back in the first year of their journey. He, B'Elanna, and Durst had been captured while on an away mission, and forced to work in the mines for them. Worse, they had turned B'Elanna into a human guinea pig, splitting her into a full-blooded human and a full-blooded Klingon.

            Most of the power circuitry was off-line in the caves, and the door was ajar. Using a rock that was lying around, Tom wedged the door open to the barracks where the prisoners had been kept. Now it was deserted. He continued walking down the length of the barrack until he saw someone out of the corner of his eye.

            "B'Elanna!" He started running. "B'Elanna! Oh my God, B'Elanna!" He kept calling as he reached her. Sliding to her side at the ground, he scooped her up into his arms and cradled her head. "B'Elanna," he called quieter, "Come on. Wake up." 

            His wife stirred and her eyes slowly opened, smiling momentarily before realization hit her. "Tom?"

            Breathing a sigh of relief, "Thank God. You're ok." 

            "Where?-"

            "I don't know. It reminds me of the caves that the Vidiians held us captive in. But I don't see how that's possible."

He helped her to her feet as she shook her head and braced herself on a nearby rock. "No. No, they're-it's Suspiria. She's-"

            "Calm down. I'm sure it's some-"

            "Where's Miral? Tom where's Miral?"

            "I don't know. We'll find her," he tried to calm her.

            But she pushed passed him and stumbled further into the cave, "No, she wasn't sent here. She wasn't- oh God. Where's my daughter!"

            "B'Elanna!" Tom caught up and stopped her from her aimless search. "Tell me what's going on. What do you mean, sent here?"

            B'Elanna huffed as if it were inconvenient to be explaining it. "Suspiria. She thinks Captain Janeway killed the first Caretaker. She's out for revenge. So she lured her here and zapped her entire crew across the Delta Quadrant."

            "The whole crew?"

            "All of us! Scattered to different parts of the galaxy. She tapped into Janeway's worst fear."

            Tom looked past B'Elanna and slowly pulled away. "Losing the crew," he whispered.

            "Miral! Baby, are you here?" B'Elanna had in the meantime begun staggering around the abandoned caves. But Tom was too stunned to move. He knew. Somehow he knew. He and his wife were the _only_ people on this planet. No ship. No supplies. And their daughter was gone.

            Tuvok watched the sky shifted as he felt himself being lifted from the ground. Although delirious, he could tell that he was on some sort of stretcher. Voices around him spoke in a foreign tongue, and the blood red clouds taunted him from above. "Please. I must…know. Where…" he tried. But the voices did not respond. It could have been hours or minutes, he couldn't tell which, but he was eventually carried inside a dark complex, as more voices surrounded him. He tried to move him head but was pushed back to the stretcher. An order was barked aloud and piercing lights came on, blinding the little vision he had. 

            In the midst of the commotion, Tuvok turned his head and squinted as his pupils came back into focus. He looked at the bed next to him. The man's head and torso were drenched with blood. A gash had seemed to be purposely cut into his forehead surrounded by reddish-brown scarring…and Indian markings. "Commander!" he called. But the man didn't move, and lights shut off.

* * * * *__

_Author's Note: Soooooooooooo sorry it took so long to update this. Hopefully all our faithful readers will come back because we've so enjoyed your reviews. It's what's kept us from giving up on this completely. It won't be so long next time between updates…scout's honor! Enjoy!_


	17. Computer: LocateAnybody!

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 17:

Computer: Locate…Anybody! 

"Hello?!" Harry shouted as he trenched through the thick grove of trees and shrubs. He'd been walking around in an endless circle for hours and there was still no sign of any Athena crewmembers…or anyone else for that matter. "Hello?!" he shouted again.

            "Hello there!" came a voice up ahead. Harry nearly jumped at the sound of another man's voice. "This way friend!" it said. Harry peered through the cascading leaves and saw the vague outline of a humanoid, motioning for him to follow. He finally made it out of the woods and came upon Minister Kray of the Baneans.****

            "Minister!" he said, instantly recognizing the Baneans that stood before him. During their first year aboard Voyager, Harry and Tom had beamed down to the surface to engage in trade agreements with the SPECIES in an attempt to make allies in the Delta Quadrant. Tom had been framed in a complex murder on the planet, but was cleared of the charges after an extensive investigation by both parties. After punishing the rightful perpetrators, Voyager parted with the Baneans on good terms. 

            Harry was thankful to see a familiar face. There was only one problem…he was back in the Delta Quadrant. 

            "Ensign Kim, I never expected to see you again."

            "Actually it's Lieutenant now," he corrected with a small ray of pride, "yeah, I never expected to be here either."

            "It is good to see you. Why didn't you inform us of your arrival? I would very much like to see your marvelous ship again and its friendly crew."

            But Harry frowned and Kray knew instantly that things were amiss. "Lt. Kim?"

            "To tell you the truth Minister, I'm not sure how I got here. I'm supposed to be in the Alpha Quadrant."

            Kray stepped back, "Are you telling me that you made it home? After all these years you finally achieved your goal?"

            Harry nodded, "Which is why I need to figure out what has happened. I'm sorry I have to once again intrude upon your hospitality sir, but I wonder if I might have access to your computer."

            "Certainly Lieutenant. Right this way." 

            They continued to walk down the dirt path towards the city hut when a small canine animal scurried up and tugged at his leg. 

            "What is it Zod?" the Minister said. The pup turned around and dashed toward a thicket of dense vegetation. "What is it boy?" The men scrambled to keep up as she led them toward the brush of trees. As they grew closer, he heard a faint wailing. Pushing the branches aside with his forearm, he squinted through the trees. "Celes!" he cried. 

            She was lying there, moaning half-unconscious in the grasses as Zod licked her arm. Squirming in her arms was a tiny Klingon baby girl. 

* * * * *

            "Computer, locate Commander Chakotay."

            "Commander Chakotay is not on board the Athena."

            "Computer, locate Lt. Commander Tuvok."

            "Lt. Commander Tuvok is not aboard the Athena."

            Kathryn repeated the command several more times in tears as she sat head down in her chair. _Why did I come out here? Why did I ask them along?_ "Computer, locate any member of the Athena crew."

            "Captain Janeway is on the main bridge. EMH is in sickbay." 

            Janeway's head sprang up. "The Doctor." Janeway hurried to an empty sickbay. "Computer, activate the EMH."

            "Unable to comply." 

            _What the hell?_ "Activate the Emergency Medical Holographic Program."

            "Unable to comply."

            "Explain."

            "EMH user access restricted to specified personnel." 

            "Override, authorization Janeway 3 Omega."

            "Access denied."

            "Dammit!" Janeway pounded her fist into the side of a council as she rushed to the wall and opened the holomatrix access panel. It wasn't the first time the Doctor's program had been tampered with and she had a feeling that Suspiria wouldn't have wasted much time or effort hiding the Doctor very well. She needed _someone_ to help her…she was lost enough without the rest of her crew.

            She fiddled with the controls in the panel and crudely bypassed a number of circuits with the sickbay equipment that she had. A beam of light flashed in front of her and a figure appeared next to the biobed.

            "Please state the nature of the medical emergency…Captain? Are you all right?"

            Slowly Janeway sighed and replaced the access panel, rising to face the Doctor, "No."

* * *


	18. A New Priority

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 18:

A New Priority 

"Lt. Hanson to Captain Janeway. Please respond." Annika tried again. She rolled her eyes and pushed herself away from the consol she had been leaning on. From what she could tell, she was on a ship of some sort, and a small one at that. She couldn't tell where she was or how long she had been out because the computers weren't working and there was excessive damage near all of the main computer files. Slowly, she made her way through the darkness, using the sparks coming from broken conduits and tubing to light her path. She came upon a door half open and forced her way through to a tiny mess hall. It probably held 15 people at the most and looked equipped with Starfleet regulation replicators. "Lt. Hanson to the Athena," she said absently, not expecting anything to change.

            Then from across the cabin, she heard a thud. "Computer lights," she tried frugally. Nothing. Cautiously, she trudged through fallen debris and more sparks to where the sound had come from. She heard rapid breathing as if something was watching her. She whirled around. Still nothing. But the breathing persisted and Annika grew nervous. She moved forward again and bent slowly under the remains of a table. It was a small grate underneath the deck plating. She looked inside, but because of the darkness, she couldn't see much more than a meter down. "Hello?" she said. "I'm Annika Hanson of Starfleet. I come peacefully. I'm actually in distress. Can you help me?" But no answer came except a timid moan. Curiosity overcame fear as Annika ripped open the grate and looked inside. Sparks from a nearby conduit lit up the tiny vent and Annika gasped as two tiny eyes looked back into hers. 

            "It's ok," she said, her voice softening. "I won't hurt you." 

            "Are you lost too?" a timid voice squeaked.

            "Yes. I am. What's your name?"

            Annika moved aside as a small human boy crawled up to the deck. "I'm Kyle."

            "Where are your parents Kyle?" The boy looked down. "It's ok. You can tell me."

            "They're dead. All of them are dead."

            "I'm sorry," she whispered. "How?"

            "They're Borg now."

            Tuvok was thrown into the cell, landing crippled on his side, the gate slammed shut behind him. There was no moan or grunt of pain. Only silent suffering for the tortured Vulcan as he gripped the side of his stomach, pushing himself slowly across the floor and against the wall.

            "Tuvok," Chakotay said, moving from his corner to help him to one of the crude beds inside. 

            Again Tuvok said nothing, as he was helped onto the slab of cold metal. 

            "Don't worry Lieutenant. We'll get out of here somehow."

            "Commander," he said in response, as if finally realizing where he was now. "What has been said by the guards?"

            "I can't make out much. From what I can tell, these seem to be P'Taks. But that can't be possible. Unless we're-"

            "In the Delta Quadrant," Tuvok finished matter-of-factly.

            Chakotay nodded, "I have considered the possibility. Although they seem a bit different than the P'Taks we encountered on Voyager. Perhaps a mutated species?"

            "Unlikely," Tuvok grunted between sharp inhales. "A different faction maybe, but definitely the same species."

            "What do you suppose they want with us? They've performed tests, but nothing that leads to a pattern or specific purpose."

            "More importantly," Tuvok added, "Why are we here?"

            Again, a nod. "Seems like they're done playing us as guinea pigs. Our first priority should be finding out if we're indeed in the Delta Quadrant, and plan an escape."

            "They intend to start the tests again come daybreak."

            "How can you tell? We don't have translators."

            "The speech patterns," Tuvok coughed, "They are similar to Klingon syntax."

            "Did you hear anything else?"

            Tuvok turned his head and nodded, looking right at the Commander for the first time that night.

            "Lieutenant?"

            "These are the same species that intended to study Vulcan survival tactics. When they have finished us both, they will dissect us and utilize us for medical research."

            Chakotay drew back and sat against the wall. The colleagues didn't speak for several minutes. He knew there was something familiar about the species, but it had been so long and for Janeway, it was a minor diplomatic encounter. "Then we need a new priority."

Tuvok nodded, "Survival."

* * *


	19. Adrift

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 19:

Adrift 

"B'Elanna!" Tom screamed after his wife. They had been trenching in circles for hours looking for any sign of the rest of the Athena crew, more particularly Miral. Tom had accepted right away that they were the only beings on the planet, but B'Elanna had become hysterical. "Slow down! Please!"

            "She's here. She's gotta be!" the enraged Klingon shouted back, growing increasingly irritated with her husband. How could he be so calm about this? Their _daughter_ was missing. And it was all their fault. "Suspiria wouldn't transport a helpless child to an alien world without her mother!"

            Tom rolled his eyes at the absurdity of the statement. Of _course_ she would. Suspiria was an all-powerful God-like being who was severely pissed off. Miral could be light-years away from them, and probably was. "B'Elanna," he finally reached her and grabbed her shoulders. "We've been circling for hours. There's no one else here."

            "She's gotta be!" B'Elanna screamed, fighting…shrugging away. "Let me go!" She squirmed from his grasp, striking him on the face. Tom accepted the punch without a flinch. He'd seen her like this before. Slowly, he wiped the blood from the small cut she had made on his face.

            "B'Elanna…" he stepped forward, "Please."

            "She's gotta be…" she whispered, collapsing to the cavern floor. 

            "We'll find her," he came to his knees and gently coaxed her into his arms. "I'm sure she's ok. You said Suspiria sent everyone from the ship to different parts of the Delta Quadrant. I'm sure she at least ended up with another crewmember." She looked up at him, her eyes suddenly heavy. "B'Elanna?"

            But she didn't respond. Tom moved quickly as her eyes rolled back into her head and she began to fall away from him. "B'Elanna!" he said, catching her before her head struck a protruding rock. Frantically he patted her face. "B'Elanna!" It was no use. She was out cold.

            Celes's eyes flew open as she sprang up from the soft cushion beneath her. Where in the hell was she now? Back in her quarters? She looked around, nothing familiar. Down at her arms. Miral was gone. Her breathing quickened. "Hello?" she quivered. "Is anyone-" She looked out the window and gasped at the twilight outlines of a forest…no stars.  She was on a planet? But she was just on the Athena. What in the hell-

            "Lieutenant, she's awake," a voice came from across the room, "It's ok dear. We're not going to hurt you."

            Celes drew back as an elderly woman moved towards her. "Lights," she said and the room brightened. 

            "Celes," someone else said. She looked up, calmed by the Lieutenant standing in the doorway. Thank the Prophets, someone she recognized. 

            "Harry- or uh, Lieutenant Kim. What happened?"

            He chuckled, "You were right the first time. It's Harry."

            "You've been asleep for several hours Tal Celes."

            Celes looked to the woman, "Why? What happened?" she repeated.

            "We found you entangled in brush of Tarnzanius Thorns. Its vapor is poisonous, and almost immediately seeped into your skin."

            "We think that's where the Caretaker sent you, a couple feet away from the brush," Harry said, sitting in a chair next to the bed. 

            "The Caretaker?"

            Harry nodded, "From what I can tell, we've been…zapped to the Banean homeworld…in the Delta Quadrant."

            Celes's heart began to race. _No! Not again. The Delta Quadrant? I can't-_ another thought hit her. "Miral," she said, "Miral! I found her in that brush, she was screaming. I went in to get her and…and-"

            "The fumes knocked you unconscious. We found you clutching the child underneath your uniform jacket," the woman said. "You were basically a shield for her, keeping her away from the thorns."

            "Is she ok?"

            "She's fine Celes," Harry instinctively reached for her hand. "She's sleeping in the other room. You probably saved her life."

            Celes paused, looking at her hand inside his. A warm shiver went down her spine as she realized, _I saved someone's life?_ It was unfathomable to her. She'd really never done _anything_ right before. For a split second, Celes felt pretty good…for a split second. "But the Caretaker. What happened? I mean why-"

            "That's what we're trying to find out," Harry answered, with a little less of a smile than he had before. He dropped her hand and stood up, starting to pace around the room.  
            "You three are the only crewmembers we've encountered and it's been nearly 9 hours since we found you and the child Miral," the woman said. "Enough of this though," she added, rising as she clasped her hands together in a grandmotherly fashion. "You must be hungry." She left them alone.

            "Harry, are we really in the Delta Quadrant?"

            He nodded, sitting back down. "Looks that way. This is the same planet where Tom was accused several years back of being a murderer."

            "I remember." 

            "I've been going through the data logs in Minister Kray computer. Honestly, there's not much there to help us. The Athena is nowhere in sight, or in any kind of scanning range. It looks like-"

            "We're stranded here," she finished, staring deadpan at the wall as she did so. 

            Harry read the look on her face and made her meet his eyes, "We'll figure this out. We'll find a way back. But I need your help ok?"

            She nodded, swallowing hard, too afraid of their situation to even speak. 

            "Hey," he added, squeezing her hand, "I mean it. We've made it through worse. We'll find the Athena."

            She nodded again, slightly calmed, but not much. Was there even anyone _left_ on the Athena to find?

            "Try it now Doctor," Janeway barked into the communicator, while straining to hear through the garbled communications system for a reply.

            "I think that did it Captain."

            _Finally_, she thought. "All right, transfer yourself back up here. I'm gonna need you at the helm."

            "Yes Ma'am."

            They had been adrift for nearly six hours, subject of a minor warp corps malfunction that could have easily been repaired if she had an engineering staff! Kathryn hadn't slept in nearly 72 hours but instead of getting tired…she was just getting angry.

            "Lieutenant Torres programmed me with essential piloting skills," the Doctor said, coming aboard with a hint of the old ego buried within his matrix, "What's our heading?"

            "Sector 001."

            "Captain?"

            She raised her eyebrow as she turned to take the ops station…Harry's station. "We need to find one severely irritated transient being native to the Delta Quadrant. We're going to need help."

            "Captain, I probably do not have to inform you that entering Starfleet Headquarters will alert them of our present status and probably have you removed from command?"

            She nodded. She was perfectly aware of the risks of returning to Starfleet missing her entire crew. But there were ways through the beacons and perimeters without detection. Besides, they weren't going very far. "There's someone there that I need."

* * *


	20. Sector001

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 20:

Sector 001 

"Kathryn, do you have any idea the trouble I could be in if Starfleet finds out that I didn't report you to the authorities?" Reggie Barkley's voice wavered as he shakily handed over a data padd to an old friend.

            "Reg, if they know we're near your little outpost here, they'll decommission the Athena and send another willing crew right into harm's way. I have to do this. Me. I have to find her and make her understand what really happened."

            "But suppose it doesn't work," he said, wringing his hands together as he paced the floor of his lab. "Suppose I get you lost out there. We haven't tested the machine on a living organism yet. When Voyager came home, the experiment was terminated because there didn't seem to be a point-"

            "Reggie," Kathryn grasped his shoulders, "That's my crew out there. _My _crew. I got them into this mess. I'll get them out. 7 and a ½ years, we've battled the Kazon, 8472, the Borg…I'm going to find Suspiria and you're going to help me."

            Reggie sighed, looking for some sign from the so far silent doctor who merely stood in the corner and shrugged. "All right Captain Janeway. Suit up."

* * * * *

            Tuvok's heavy eyes raised under the piercing blue light above. They were at it again. This strain of P'Tals that had decided Vulcans were equitable to lab rats. One eye- gashed and bruised so badly it was sealed shut. The other, strained to glimpse the other man on the biobed, Chakotay. Both men had been without water and food for several days now by his calculations. It was obvious by now that they were entirely alone on this planet. Tuvok had been able to pick up pieces of several more conversations. They had been the only Athena crewmembers found…thrown apparently into a random cavern as if rag dolls. Chakotay was all but useless at this point. Tuvok, ever the resourceful one, and trained for periods of survival much longer than this, kept up the appearances of defeat while he worked tirelessly in his cell at night digging small crevices in the hard red rock. He'd been able to chip away several feet in the cell wall without detection.  On rare occasions, Chakotay found the strength to chip in and together they had created a small opening, a hiding place of sorts that they intended to use…tonight. 

            Tuvok checked on his crewmate again. _Survive a few more hours Commander,_ he thought…nearly pleading subconsciously. Tonight they would put their plan to work. They had no way of getting off the planet. No ship, no communication. But that no longer mattered. What they needed now, more than anything was food. 

            The P'Tals finally finished their testing for the day and threw them ceremoniously back into the darkened cave. A crude force field was erected in front of them which Tuvok could have dismantled weeks ago if they hadn't taken his tricorder. If there was one advantage it was the fact that the P'Tals were overly confident. Not unlike many species in the Delta Quadrant, they were of the breed that believed their technology and security was the best in the universe…so secure that the guard often left for several minutes at a time, in search of food or indulgences. All they had to do was wait.

            "Commander," he whispered across the cell. Chakotay was lying on his back, coughing quietly as he curled up, trying to compress the emptiness of his stomach. Slowly he lifted his head and nodded, knowing this was the night they intended to act. "Tuvok…you'll have to do it on your own…I don't think I…"

            "I understand Commander. Everything else though will go according to the original plan." Again, a nod. It was all Chakotay could manage. They waited in silence until their guard finally walked off, pausing only once to make sure his prisoners were motionless. 

            Tuvok worked fast, shifting down from the slab stone bed to the corner where the small hole had been made. Chakotay stumbled over as best he could and the two of them crawled into the small space. Tuvok pulled the stone covering over them, concealing all but a peephole he'd cut inside, microscopic to the P'Tals' tiny eyes. Then they waited. One minute. Two minutes. Carefully monitoring their breathing, using as little oxygen as possible and waited for the guard to return. 

            Tom rubbed his arms, shivering inside the confines of the abandoned mine. Thank God the species had moved on…he had enough problems. He glanced at his wife, sleeping along the cavern wall. After she had fainted, Tom carried her to the corner where it seemed the warmest. At first he'd been worried that she might not awake, but she seemed at second glance to have simply passed out due to fatigue and hysterics. As he looked at her now, she was almost peaceful, sleeping soundly…just as she had for years now beside him. _Some husband,_ he thought. They had nothing. Not even a random animal they could crudely carve into a meal. If they didn't find something soon, they were going to starve.

            Of course, ordinarily, Tom never had to worry about B'Elanna. Cunning and resourceful as she was beautiful, B'Elanna had the strongest backbone and best survival skills in the quadrant…but now…Tom had been more than frightened by her fit. It'd taken forever to try and calm her down and now, she was curled into a corner, mewling softly like a kitten. Tom was terrified.

            He moved to join her and then froze, whipping his head around. A tiny chiseling had sounded faintly down the corridor. Tom paced into blackness as the sounds rapidly grew louder. "What's that?" B'Elanna, suddenly awake and at his side.

            "I don't know," he said, instinctively shielding her from the threat. B'Elanna jumped as whatever it was had broken through the wall. Before they had time to devise a classic Starfleet Master Plan, their new guests were upon them.


	21. Escape

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 21:

Escape 

The guard had not been gone long this time. He had left to frisk one of the lower classes out of credits and headed down the corridor for some dinner. He had plenty of time. Those two inferiors weren't going anywhere. He slugged the rest of the murky purple-black ale down his throat and returned to his post. KuChuck was taking rounds tonight…best not to get too lazy. He slugged on back to the cell and peered inside. All was normal. Two pathetic prisoners lying—The guard punched a security code into the wall and leapt inside, his pulse skyrocketing as he panicked. _No no no! he thought. _Where in the_- but all thought ceased for P'Tal guard Pluth. Out of nowhere, a red rock slab flew across the room and struck him on the head. _

            "Grab the weapons, communicator, any other supplies," Chakotay whispered, finding new strength in the face of a possible escape. Tuvok worked fast and retrieved two phaser rifles and a tricorder-like device. They crept quietly out of the cell and set out into the depths of the corridor. 

            For Chakotay and Tuvok, it could only be explained as sheer luck that Pluth had been so paranoid of his supervisor making his rounds tonight. There had been no alarm. No alert that the prisoners had escaped. He'd foolishly, as Tuvok had anticipated, assumed he could take care of the breach himself. Careful in the past few days to take note of where he was being led and which corridors to follow, Tuvok led them right into the heart of the P'Tal command center. Manned by only three operatives at night, they took each one out effortlessly with their newly acquired weapons and the elements of surprise. There was a lot of work and research to be done at these stations. They would need to work fast and invisible if they were to find the main exit and make their way across the planet. Chakotay set his phaser down and began accessing data and maps, newfound determination pulsing through his veins. Tuvok saw it first though, several half eaten meals on a small break table along the far wall. "Commander," he said. Chakotay looked up and followed Tuvok's gaze across the room. To hell with escape…before anything else was down, Chakotay and Tuvok…dug in. 

* * * * *

            Annika watched in awe as the boy sat poised at the consol, his hands flying over the controls with the speed and accuracy of a Starfleet cadet. Kyle Tilden couldn't have been more than 12 years old. Yet a haunting wisdom lingered in his eyes as he piloted the tiny craft through the emptiness of space. 

            It was impossible for Annika to ignore the similarities between them. Family wrenched away, left to bide alone, knowing that each day could be his last. Annika always had trouble remembering her brief childhood before the Borg abducted and assimilated her, but her few hours with Kyle left her swimming in sensations and memories she didn't know she had. In fact, desperate as their situation was, Annika…Seven of Nine…was beginning to feel quite fortunate to be stranded.

            "There," the boy pointed at his makeshift viewscreen, a tiny monitor tacked onto the front of his consol, a crude bypass of cables and wires connecting them. Annika rose from her seat and leaned over his shoulder to look. "That's where I hid."

            She nodded at the image, a red-orange nebula dispersed between a small planet and its moon. "Fascinating," she said more to herself than to Kyle. "The X class polar effect. I've heard of them, but I've never seen one." Kyle looked up questioningly and she explained, "On certain classes of stars, the poles between the planet and its moon connect in such a way that the combined force pulls in any outside debris and clutter. In a sense their orbits are fused and collect into a single mass. Throws off many of the most sophisticated sensors." 

Kyle had long since stopped listening and shrugged, unimpressed with the history lesson, "They couldn't find me in the red stuff," he said simply. Annika started at him and became momentarily preoccupied with the fact that Kyle had basically summed up everything she had just explained and it was every bit as true. 

"Kyle," she started slowly, "how long have you been here?"

Kyle's remained fixed on the screen in front of him as he piloted towards the…red stuff. "I don't know," he answered. 

She looked down, amazed at how calm and distant he had become in the few short hours since she had found him cowering in the ducts of this tiny spacecraft. "Long time?" she asked. He nodded. From the sporadic conversation she had managed, she'd figured out that he was part of a deep space salvage team that was thrown off course. His father had been the commander of the mission, his mother the science officer. Kyle was, as Annika had been, the kid along for the ride. Inside, she grew suddenly angry. _Why do they bring children on these missions?!_ She thought absently, as the faces of Naomi Wildman, Icheb and Miral Paris all flashed through her mind. _Miral,_ she thought again…and dismissed it almost immediately. She was stranded on a tiny science vessel with a twelve year old boy hiding from the Borg in "red stuff." She didn't want to think of where the infant had been sent.  

She was back in Borg space, this much she knew from what little data Kyle was able to call up, so finding the Athena was secondary to avoiding the Borg at all costs. She also knew that considering their coordinates, help if any, was likely to be scarce. Still, as she looked at Kyle, his hands still furiously flying over the difficult keypad of the helm, she would be damned if after all this time she ended up right back where she'd started on the _Raven_…and damned if she'd let it happen to Kyle either. Summoning her Naomi-Wildman voice, she pushed herself off of her seat and stood before him as he flew their ship into the concealing void. "Well done Mr. Tilden," she said. "Let's find some food now ok?"

Kyle eyed her curiously, but then nodded, motioning for her to follow as they headed out of the tiny bridge and down a short corridor. And although he still warily kept his distance, Annika suspected that the boy was glad to finally have some company.

* * *

This is an old song I know……but……SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE! J Won't be that long in the future with any luck. Working on the next chapter as we speak. Check back soon!


	22. A Sordid Group

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 22:

A Sordid Group 

Tom couldn't help but cock an eyebrow at the creatures staring them down. They were quite the disgruntled and mismatched group. 5 in all, and different species, the two in front ad rough, coarse, black skin peaking out from underneath heavy brown and red firs. Vulcan ears, Ferangi nose, Klingon hair and the worst breath imaginable, these two looked like the henchmen of the bunch. Behind them stood a Talaxian, although he wasn't as friendly looking as Neelix had been. Next to him was the only female of the group. Pale blue skin and golden-white hair traveling the length of her own firs—Tom's eyes halted at the hatchet in her hand before they rested on the final member of the group positioned in the middle…clearly the leader. And he was Romulan.

The henchmen grunted to the Romulan, in a language foreign to Tom's malfunctioning translator. The Romulan grunted back and then looked to the Parises. 

"What is your business here?"

B'Elanna looked to her husband as he cleared his throat.

"Umm…my wife and I," he placed a hand on his chest and gestured to B'Elanna, "We were-"

"You're Starfleet," he barked.

Tom gulped, "Yes…we are. And you're…y-you're Romulan but-" 

But the leader flinched at the sound of his species and inhaled sharply, "I'm no more Romulan than you are…my crew didn't think so anyway."

Tom took a wary step forward, sensing the leader's guard letting up, "You're a rogue?"

He looked down, "I am an orphan."

B'Elanna, who had thus far remained silent, moved from behind her husband. Tom was amazed by the sudden calmness of her voice as she spoke, "We've been abandoned too…maybe we can help each other."

The henchmen began to grunt as the Romulan put up a hand, calling for silence and then glanced to his side. The female stepped forward and nodded. He looked back and extended his hand. "Zethe." 

Tom shook his hand in response, "Tom."

Tom surveyed the scene before him. New companions brought new supplies. A fire had been lit immediately and they had generously provided the Parises with a gourmet meal of rat meat…having not eaten in a while, they were more than grateful.

Zethe and the female, Kairi, who has a kind of telepath, where the only two who knew his language. Zethe had been a mere teen when his crew had fallen into a wormhole. Then in the heat of several civil wars, a time of barbaric measures, Zethe had been left on a desolate planet deep in the quadrant…by accident. 

It was pure luck that Kairi, a lone trader much like Neelix had been, found him struggling on that planet. Along his own lonely journey to get home, he picked up more travelers along the way. Some moved on. Some stayed. The henchmen, whom Tom learned were of a slave race called the Gonnals, and the Talaxian called Perriaktoi, were the current companions. Only Kairi remained his constant.

Now, as conversation had exhausted, and Tom came to the cold realization that Zethe would know nothing about how they could get back home, he watched as the group unfolded blankets and quilts and slumbered. But Tom couldn't sleep. Not now…not ever. His wife was unwell and he had no idea where his daughter was. The severity of the situation had struck at last…and now he was left utterly petrified.

He crept over sleeping bags to the same corner B'Elanna had collapsed into before. She was sleeping again, more soundly than earlier that morning. He suspected it was because she had food now in her stomach…or that she was simply exhausted. He knelt beside her and ran the pad of his thumb along her cheek, up to the delicate ridges on her forehead. She stirred as her eyes slowly opened.

_Damn,_ he thought. _Way to go Paris…_ "Sorry, go back to sleep," he whispered.

But B'Elanna yawned as she shook her head and sat up. "Tom?"

"I didn't mean to wake you B'Elanna. Go back to-"

"No…Tom, I…I need to tell you something."

"You're sick. I don't want you worked up again-"

"Please!" she pleaded in a desperate whisper, yet still remarkably calm as she pushed herself up on her arms and sat to face her husband. "I'm sorry if I…if I lost it back there-"

"B'Elanna don't-"

"No, listen to me!" Tom was silent as she shed a tear and took a deep breath. "I was worried…I _am _worried…about Miral-"

"I know. So am I-"

"But there's something else," she stared hard into his eyes for long minutes before she spoke again…and then the words were deafening, "I'm pregnant."

* * *

            Harry sighed, leaning back in the chair as he pinched the ridge of his nose. He had no clue why he was still sitting at this computer. He wasn't going to find anything. Suspiria had obviously meant the move to be permanent. He of course, wasn't positive what had happened exactly. He'd only seen the viewscreen for a split second before he woke up in the forest of the Banean homeworld. There was still no sign of the Athena, and no other crewmembers had been found. He was once again…stuck…waiting.

            "Anything?"

            Harry jerked in his chair, unaware that he was being watched, and turned to the young woman in the doorway, her arms wrapped around her middle as if shivering…but she was remarkably still.

            "Not yet," he sighed, but didn't tell her what he was really thinking: _Not ever._ His earlier promise to her that they'd figure the whole thing out seemed more empty than when he'd first uttered it. And those young eyes that stared back at him, devoid of the mere anxiety felt at her new assignment only a few days ago, now full of despair and lost hope, were too much to bear. 

            "How…" she said quietly, "H-how could we…"

            Harry sighed as he rubbed his eyes and pushed himself away from the desk. "I don't know." He turned to her, "But we'll…we'll figure it out ok?" It was the only thing he could think of to say, although it lacked that reassurance he'd offered her before. He stood and looked down at her as she sunk into a nearby cushion and stared at the floor. He decided to try again. "Hey," she looked up as he crossed the room and knelt beside her, "At least we're safe…right?"

            She nodded. 

            "I mean, we could've been sent to the _Kazons_ you know?" he added with a half-hearted chuckle.

            Again, she nodded.

            "Come on, say something," he pleaded, patting her shoulder, but unable to look her straight in the eye.

            Celes choked back a tear, "It's just…ironic, you know?"

            Harry nodded. He _did_ know. She didn't have to explain. Her eyes remained fixed on the floor as she whispered, "Careful what you wish for…you know?"

            But Harry didn't answer, no matter how much he wished he could. He needed to comfort this girl. Needed to feel like he had accomplished _something_ today. What he wouldn't give to be able to tell her he'd detected a worm hole near the Banean's third moon, or that Kray had blueprints for a special spacecraft. Even that this whole thing was just a nightmare! But he had nothing to say. He was just as lost as she was…and there wasn't anything he could do about it. He reached for her hand, an act becoming more and more habitual as time wore on and stared at the ceiling as if he could see right through it to the stars. _Come on Janeway…_he thought…_get us out of here._

* * *  


	23. USS Voyager

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 23:

The USS Voyager 

Some viewed Reginald Barclay's fixation with the journey of Voyager over the years as admirable dedication. Others called it obsession. But whatever it was, Janeway was glad for it. 

            Since the beginning of their voyage, Barclay and his team of researchers had been slowly developing ways to duplicate the technology of the array that banished Voyager to the Delta Quadrant. Reg's early communication models between them were just blueprints compared to their desired result. The process had been slow, and Starfleet had threatened to shut his team down several times when results were not produced. But when Voyager finally came home, development skyrocketed and the project sprang to life. Diagnostics of the hardware revealed a plethora of signatures and data that multiplied their efforts. And after Voyager had been decommissioned and stripped down, it was docked at Barclay's outpost at the edge of sector 001, a fact known by a very select group of people, in the hopes that they could finish their own array. The project was so secret in fact, that Reg and a few key members in the upper ranks weren't even permitted to leave the station. And Janeway was one of only six other officers outside of the team who knew anything about it. 

            "You know that you and I are both facing a court marshal when this is through," Barclay said, nervously punching his access codes into the docking panel." Janeway stood behind him, but didn't respond. "Lieutenant Barclay, Reginald. Authorization Beta 3-2-1-9," he said aloud.

            "Authorization confirmed," the giant bay doors were opened and they stepped out onto the observation deck. 

            Kathryn was surprised by how the sight affected her. It had been months since she'd been this close, and she'd lived with the knowledge that is should have been longer. The Athena was a fine ship indeed, but it was nothing compared to the sight she now beheld. Docked before her, gleaming amidst the clutter of space walkers, access chutes and repair equipment…was the USS Voyager.

            "Reg…" she whispered.

            Reggie couldn't help but grin, "She looks pretty good huh?"

            "She looks brand new." Janeway was right. Seven years worth of wear and tear on the deck plating had vanished, and the vibrant blue necels glowed magnificently against the blackness of space…beacons in the night. Kathryn kept her eyes on her ship as they walked down the empty observation deck to the crew access tunnels stretching across the rectangular bay. As they traveled several more corridors, each one bringing them closer to the hull, Janeway's stomach tightened like a schoolgirl's on her first date. She'd soon be inside Voyager again. Commanding the ship that had changed so many lives…and would now do so again. Suddenly, she felt something that had been missing since her crew was lost…It was confidence. And it felt good.

            New angles and details came into view and Janeway noticed an addition to the port side near the impulse engines. "That's the coaxial emitter?"

            "Yes Ma'am," Barclay swept his hand down the walkway's pane in presentation, "Commander LaForge's own design."

            Janeway was too distracted by her ship and its new hardware to notice Barclay's name-dropping and simply nodded. "And it will keep Voyager linked to the array's signature?"

            "Barclay hesitated before answering, fear trickling back into his voice as he finally did so. "In theory." 

            Janeway turned and glowered as he continued, "You've seen the reports. We've had successful tests across the Alpha Quadrant and a few into the Beta Quadrant. But Captain-"

            "Then it works," she said resolutely.

            Barclay sighed. He tried again, "Captain, you have to understand those are circumstances during which the variable were controlled. This whole mission is dependent upon you finding Suspiria and your crew with absolutely no guarantee you won't get harmed in the process. If that thing is even nicked-"

            "Reg, we went through this last night. It's the only option."

            "No, we never finished this last night. Look, why don't we just hold off…contact Starfleet-"

            "No! Lieutenant for the last time-"

            "Kathryn!" he grasped her shoulders.

            For a long while, they remained locked in a stand still. And then Janeway dropped her guard with a heavy sigh, "Reg, you and I both know that Starfleet will look at this as a failure in diplomatic relations and my crew…its casualties. Efforts and resources will not be spared _again_ to bring them home especially since this time, there is no ship to salvage along with them." Barclay looked down, unwilling to hear his own cynicisms of a bureaucratic Starfleet confirmed by her voice…but she was of course, right. "Besides," she added quietly, "this is my crew…my ship…and my fault. I'm going to find them Reg and you're going to help me."

            Reggie released her shoulder and nodded, an almost approving grin on his face replacing his anxiety. He straightened up and opened the airlock connecting the walkway with the ship. "Good luck Captain."

            Janeway let out a grateful sigh and smiled. "Thank you. The Doctor's already aboard?"

            "Transferred him this morning. He's on the bridge."

            Janeway took a deep breath and extended her hand, "Then let's go to work." 

            Barclay clasped on, as if for the last time, and shook, perhaps a bit harder than he'd intended as a bit of his old nervous jitters resurfaced. "See you soon."

            With that, Janeway stepped aboard and watched as the hatch closed behind her. She was home.

* * *


	24. Back in Battle

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 24:

Back in Battle 

The prisoners were finding answers to more than a few questions that had been bothering Tuvok in the past few days…one of which was the surprising fact that they hadn't been there for _days_ at all. If he weren't a Vulcan, he would have been furious when he learned that the P'Tals had stimulated their brains and altered their perceptions…essentially tricking them into thinking more time had passed than actually had. This accomplished two things: sped up their sick experiments and convinced them both that they'd been starving. And to make matters worse, Tuvok had no idea how to reverse it. They'd only been on the planet for about 28 hours…but it felt like weeks. 

            Luckily, leftover meals combined with the knowledge of what the P'Tals had done to him had mobilized Chakotay and the two worked quickly without detection. "Tuvok," Chakotay called, his eyes still on the screen in front of him. Tuvok crossed the room as Chakotay revealed a set of schematics that seemed to detail the layout of the base they were underneath. "Look here," he pointed out a specific juncture. "This leads to the upper levels. We could use that to access this main shuttle bay. Steal a ship, make for the nearest non-hostile colony."

            Tuvok looked behind him. We will need more weapons. The banks in the guards' phasers are down to 13% efficiency."

            Chakotay crossed his arms, thinking. "What if we backtracked. Made our way back through the cell blocks where we know the guards' positions."

            Tuvok nodded, "I suggest moving through the south corridor. It's narrow. The guards will not be able to hide so easily."

            "Agreed," he took a deep breath and walked to the table, retrieving his stolen rifle. "Let's go."

            The comrades made their way down the tunnels almost a hundred yards without incident. But the combination of their altered mental status and sheer stress caused even Tuvok to error. They took a wrong turn.

            "Hey!" came an angry grunt as Chakotay rounded a curve and straight into the end of a new guard's gun. But he acted quickly. Tuvok hadn't yet turned the corner. Chakotay shot his arms in the air in surrender as the guard advanced. The pompous P'Tal smirked as he sauntered to his captive, and then before he knew what had happened, Chakotay dropped to the floor and Tuvok emerged, firing point blank. Their enemy fell to the ground with a heavy thud as Chakotay rose and brushed himself off. "Good work," he said.

            But Tuvok didn't answer. His eyes were glued to the cell the P'Tal had been guarding. "Tuvok?" Chakotay asked and then he turned following the Vulcan's gaze…and then he gasped."

            A man was lying spread-eagle on the floor of the cell, the same crude force field surrounding him. He was covered in dirt and dried blood but Chakotay would know that wild fiery orange hair anywhere. He took a cautious step forward, almost afraid of what he already knew. On the floor lay a man Chakotay hadn't seen in over a year. Not since he left Voyager to stay with his race. They had assumed he would live at peace there, content with his own people. But there he was staring back at them with black eyes…The P'Tals had captured Neelix.

            Annika cried out as she was thrown to the floor. One more violent shake and she wasn't sure how much longer this already crippled ship could last. 

            "Kyle! Divert more power to the engines!" she shouted. Completely confident in the boy's unprecedented talents, in the short time they'd had together Annika had come to understand that Kyle Tilden was the most resourceful and capable youth she'd ever met and that included Icheb. And now…trapped in the middle of a nearly hopeless battle with a rogue mercenary ship on their tail, she felt very fortunate to have him at ops. 

            They'd spent over 6 hours inside the polar nebula running dozens of scans in the process to be sure the coast was clear. When she'd finally convinced Kyle that it was best to keep moving so that they could leave Borg space, they moved out of the Nebula and set course for a nearby M class planet Annika recalled was just beyond that zone and would provide more protection than the Nebula. The journey went well and without incident. In fact, they were nearly 40 minutes from entering orbit when a hostile trading ship that refused to accept hails had opened fire. She and Kyle had been struggling ever since to evade them. "Shields are down to 40%!"

            Annika huffed, "We can't take another hit," more to herself than to Kyle. But of this, Kyle was well aware. 

            "We're two minutes from the planet. If we can hold on that long-"

            They shook again, sending sparks up at Kyle's station. For a moment, Annika assumed that he was just startled. But when he remained silent, Annika sprang to his side in a panic. 

            "Kyle!" she shouted. He was cut across the forehead and knocked unconscious but he was still alive. The ship shook once more and Annika felt something begin to seep into her…failure. There was no hope. She was going to die. She'd been assimilated as a child, rescued as an adult, re-introduced to humanity and allowed a second chance to rebuild a life…only to be destroyed by this parasite of a vessel that the Athena could've disabled in seconds…and now Kyle would perish as well.

            A tear trailed down her cheek and she recalled the last time she had cried…the moment Chakotay had left. His face and others flashed before her eyes as she scooped up Kyle from the floor and clutched him to her breast. The malfunctioning computer sputtered a final warning and she closed her eyes. 

            "Barclay to Janeway."

            "Go ahead Reg."

            "Captain, with minimal staff, I've been able to keep this mission from the team. But that shift is nearly over. It's now or never."

            "Understood Lieutenant. Enter the coordinates in to the array and begin the launch sequence."

            "Yes Ma'am…good luck."

            "Thank you Reg…for everything. Doctor, lay in a course to match the array. Warp 6."

            The Doctor, armed with his mobile emitter confirmed the orders. "Course laid in Captain."

            Janeway gripped the arm rests on her old chair and took a deep breath. "Engage."

            It happened as fast as she remembered it. Transport to the Delta Quadrant was instantaneous. They were back.

            "Captain," the Doctor cried, "We're receiving a distress signal. Some sort of salvage ship under attack. 70 kilometers."

            "On screen," Janeway answered, her Captain's instincts taking precedence over her resolve not to be distracted from her personal mission. Like it or not, she was still Starfleet. And someone was in distress.

            She watched as the battle was waged on the viewscreen. "Hail them," she sprang forward in disbelief. The little ship looked as if it had nearly split in two.

            "No response. Captain, sensors indicate a warp core breach is eminent."

            "Can you get a lock on the crew?"

            "Affirmative. Two…human life signs."

            Kathryn didn't hesitate. "Beam them out of there!" She had scarcely said it when the space before her lit up like a fire ball…and the little ship was gone, its attacker already retreating as if it had just finished squashing a bug. "Do you have them?"

            The Doctor spun around in his chair and grinned his old self-assuring grin, "We have them."

            Janeway gave a definitive nod. "Good. Head down to transporter room 3 and initiate an introduction."

            "Yes Captain." The Doctor left quickly and Janeway took over the helm. She immediately ran all the diagnostics Reg had set for her and established the coaxial link between them and the array. So far, the lifeline was in tact and she was about to begin a series of long range scans when the Doctor's voice sounded through the comm system. "Doctor to Janeway." He sounded both elated and confused.

            "Go ahead."

            "Our guests are safe. One is badly injured so I'm taking him to sickbay."

            "Very good Doctor-"

            "And Captain…the other is Annika."

* * *


	25. Kairi's Gift

**Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount. **

**Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!**

_Past Re-Visited_

_By Erin and Rebecca_

Chapter 25:

Kairi's Gift 

"Kray!" a pounding startled Harry from his sleep. "Kray! Wake up! We know you're in there!" He scooted out of bed, still dressed from having just collapsed from exhaustion 3 hours ago, and emerged into the main room.

            Minister Kray stood already near his front door with some sort of lantern, his finger to his lips. "Shh."

            "Come on! We know what you're hiding!"

            "What's going on?" Harry whispered.

            "They're Nyks," he said bitterly.

            "Nyks? What's that, another species?"

            Kray sighed. "No, they're our own kind. They're extremists. Ever since-"

            "We'll break it down! You know we will!"

            Kray looked scathingly at the door. "After the war ended with the Numiri, my people became resistant to any outsides. And the…incident with your crewmate, Paris, was simply the last straw." He tightened a few bolts on the door as he continued. It's a wonder you ever ended up here Lieutenant. This…caretaker must possess some highly advanced technology. Had you come by ship, you would have been detected immediately and turned away."

            Kray's explanation was so hurried and shocking, he had trouble processing it at first. But Harry got the jist of it. Voyager had degraded a once peaceful and open race… to militant isolationists. There was no point in arguing that Tom had in fact been cleared and that the murder was an internal affair. Politics weren't driven by facts here anymore than they were on Earth. A high pitched wailing interrupted his thoughts. 

            "What's going on?" Harry turned to see Celes, wide-eyed and frightened, holding a crying Miral.

            "We have to get you three out of here!" Kray hissed as he led Harry, begging Celes to follow, down a narrow corridor that Harry swore wasn't there two seconds ago. "Lieutenant, I detest having to send you away with the child still recovering from the effects of the poison-"

            "We understand senator," Harry cut him off with a wave of his hand as he disappeared for a second into one of the rooms grabbing his tricorder, "you've done more than enough for us already."

            Just then, the woman who had helped nurse Miral back to health, Lia, appeared already alert holding an odd silvery cloth and handed it to Celes. "Here, wrap the infant in this. It will protect her from any other dangerous fumes. And do be careful child," she finished as she cupped Celes's face with motherly care and then hurried to stall the Nyks at the front door. 

            "H-harry?" Celes stuttered as she watched Lia flee. But Harry was now focused on Kray.

            "Come quickly!" he cried, and he released a hidden door that opened into a dark stairwell leading down to a dimly lit chamber. "You'll find supplies down there and some food. Take only what you can carry, and then make your way north through the passageways. You'll emerge some 60 kilometers away from here so we'll be no more good to you. Be careful. There are very few of us left here who have…an open mind."

            Harry nodded without answering. Kray continued, "After about half a day's walk, you'll find a bunker. It's been abandoned since the war, but I believe there may still be a few vessels stored there. It's your best chance."

            The Starfleet Lieutenant stood positively baffled for a moment with nothing to say. What _could_ he say to this man who he was fortunate to run across on this planet of otherwise hostile beings? How could he have been so blind during the past few days to his anxiety and worry over their finding a way to return home. And now…he had given them their only hope of survival. "I'm…sorry for c-causing you so much trouble," he mumbled feebly, "We didn't mean-"

            "Nonsense," he waved his hand, "No need for that. Now hurry!"

            Harry ushered Celes and the baby down the stairway and then stepped inside himself. "Thank you for everything, Kray. Really-"

            "Lieutenant," he hissed, taking a hurried glance toward the banging voices that were now noticeably louder. The Nyks were inside. "I can't stress how important it is for you and your friend to get off this planet!"

            Harry gave a final nod and the wall closed behind him. 

* * *

            By most standard Starfleet calculations, they had been banished to these God-forsaken caves no more than 36 hours ago. But Tom felt like it had been 36 decades. Zethe had woken his party, which now included Tom and B'Elanna by default, after just 4 hours of sleep, and marched them down a path which seemed to go in circles. _In fact,_ he mused, _I could've sworn I've seen that rat skeleton before._ Of course rodent carcasses was really not a subject that had commandeered his mind. He glanced down at his wife, whom he now had to hold firmly by the shoulder in order to get her to move. B'Elanna was getting weaker. He nearly shot himself with a phaser when he realized all at once that for B'Elanna, this ordeal had lasted much longer. Tom wasn't even sure anymore how long the caretaker held her hostage, but given their current circumstances, he didn't suppose Suspiria cared enough to keep her well fed. And the fact that she was with child…with _child._ Tom halted at that thought again. Ever time he called it up, it seemed not to want to sink in. _Another child?_ Miral was barely a toddler. And they couldn't even _find_ her! 

            "Move it along!" Zethe grunted from the head of the party. But Tom had had enough.

            "Move it along to where, Zethe?" he cried, coming to a halt as he eased B'Elanna down to rest on a nearby rock. "Do you even know where we're going? Can't you tell we're tired? B'Elanna needs a break-"

            Zethe turned on him with a ferocity that might have frightened the young pilot…if he wasn't so pissed off. He stalked over to the couple slowly, uttering each word with every step. "I…have been…navigating through dungeons and caves my entire life. I gave you my _word_…that if you stuck with me, we'd reach higher grounds. And now you question my abilities?"

            Tom's eyes locked with his and for a moment, he was ready to fight. But a hand tightened over his forearm. 

            "Tom…" came a whisper from below. He looked down into his wife's pleading eyes. "Don't." Tom was stunned. For hours now, B'Elanna had been dazed, even delusional as Zethe led them down hundreds of passageways. Malnourished, exhausted, worried sick about her daughter, Tom had feared her mind was almost gone. But there she was, her grip iron-clad on his wrist, knowing _exactly_ what he'd been thinking…willing to do to get her a little rest. Tom faced the leader once more. "Sorry," was all he could manage through gritted teeth.

            Zethe stared him down a moment more and then grunted at them all to continue. But Tom remained behind for a moment as he helped B'Elanna back to her feet. As he did so, he felt another hand on his shoulder. Tom turned and faced the woman, Kairi.

            "May I be of some assistance to your mate?"

            The question startled him, as B'Elanna used him as a crutch. "What ah….what kind of assistance?"

            Kairi offered no reply, except a small grin as she looked passed him to his wife. "You are with child," she said. It was a statement. Not a question.

            B'Elanna's eyes widened a bit, "How did you-"

            But Kairi pressed a finger to her lips and reached out to touch her middle.

            "Hey what are you-" Tom moved to stop her, but B'Elanna shook her head. 

            "Tom, no." She said for the second time, her eyes locked with Kairi's. Kairi ran her sky blue hand over her stomach and closed her eyes. A moment later, she reached up and placed a hand over B'Elanna's forehead…and all at once, Tom felt her weight lift off of his arms. He looked cautiously between the two, both pairs of eyes shut now as he watched the alien ritual at work. When B'Elanna opened her eyes they were wide…and alert…and refreshed.

            Kairi awoke too and swayed a bit, but caught her balance and then smiled. "The child in your womb is fine and healthy…as is Miral. She misses you, but for the moment, she is safe." 

            A tear streaked down B'Elanna's cheek as she nodded, seemingly unsurprised by the news. "Thank you." 

            Kairi gave a slight bow and then retreated back to where Zethe and the others were waiting…and watching as well. B'Elanna looked up through bleary eyes and hugged her husband, "Oh Tom," she whispered.

            Tom's own tears begun to spill as he held her close, still unsure of what had just taken place. But some feeling…that odd sinking feeling that had been pulling so long at his stomach he'd stopped noticing it…had just lifted…and somehow, he _knew_ that Kairi was right.

* * *


End file.
